Condenser

Condensation Process
When saturated vapour comes in contact with a surface
having a temperature below the saturation temperature,
condensation occurs. There are two types of
condensation:
1. Film-wise condensation : condensed liquid wets the
surface and forms a film covering the entire surface.
2. Drop-wise condensation : surface is not totally wetted
by the saturated vapour, and the condensate forms liquid
droplets that fall from the surface.
Compared to film-wise condensation, drop-wise
condensation has a greater surface heat-transfer
coefficient as it has a greater area exposed to the
saturation vapour.
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Stages in Condensation

1. De-superheating of the hot gas

2. Condensing of the gas to liquid state and release of
the latent heat.
3. Sub-cooling of the liquid refrigerant.

Sub-cooling only occupies a small portion of

condenser’s surface area. Therefore, an average heat
transfer coefficient is used for the whole condenser’s
surface area, and the condensation is assumed to occur
at the condensing temperature

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Types of Condensers

Based on the cooling medium used, condensers used in

refrigeration systems can be classified into the following
Three categories:
1. Water-cooled condensers
1. Double-tube condenser
2. Shell-and-tube condenser
2. Air-cooled condensers
3. Evaporative condensers

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Double-Tube Condenser

Cooling water in

Liquid refrigerant out

Hot gas in
Cooling water out 4
Shell and Tube Condenser

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Air-cooled Condenser

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 Characteristics of Air-cooled Condenser

1. Compact, easy and economical to install.

2. Flexibility in changing capacity by varying air flow.
3. Hot air may be disposed of easily.
4. Easy to clean fin and tube surface by blowing air.
5. Required less maintenance.
6. Higher power requirement per ton of refrigeration
7. On days when maximum cooling is needed, the least is
available.

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Evaporative Condenser

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 Cooling Tower

A cooling tower is a device in which recirculating

condenser water from a condenser or cooling coils is
evaporatively cooled by contact with atmospheric air.
It consists of a fan to extract intake air, a heat-transfer
medium or fill, a water basin, a water distribution system,
and an outer casing.
According to the location of the fan corresponding to the
fill and to the flow arrangements of air and water, cooling
towers can be classified into the following categories:
1. Counter-flow induced draft
2. Cross-flow induced draft
3. Counter-flow forced draft

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Counter-flow induced draft

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Cross-flow induced draft

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Counter-flow forced draft

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 Cooling Tower Terminology

Approach: Temperature difference between the

temperature of condenser water leaving the tower and
the wet-bulb temperature of the air entering the tower.

Range: Temperature difference between the temperature

of condenser water entering the tower and the
temperature leaving the cooling tower.

Blow-down: Water discharged to the drain periodically to

avoid build-up of dissolved solid.

Make-up: Water added to the circulating water to

compensate for the loss of water to evaporation, drift and
blow-down.
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