CONDENSERS

1. FUNCTIONS OF CONDENSERS The functions of condensers in steam power plants are to condense the exhaust steam from the steam engine or steam turbine and also to remove air and other non-condensable gases. The recovery of exhaust steam in the condenser reduces the makeup feed water that must be added to the system from 100% when exhausting to atmosphere, to about 1 to 5%. The exhaust pressure may be lowered from the standard atmospheric pressure to about 25 mm of Hg absolute and thereby increasing the work done by the prime mover and improving the cycle efficiency. Elements of a condenser plant are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Condenser body in which the steam is condensed. A supply of cooling water. Air pump to remove air and uncondensed vapours from the condenser. Condensate extraction pump. A pump to circulate the cooling water through the condenser (when a surface condenser is used). A hot well in which the condensed steam is discharged by the condensate extraction pump. Arrangements for recooling the circulating cooling water (when a surface condenser is used).

2. TYPES OF CONDENSERS The two main types of condensers are: 1. 2. Jet condensers. Surface condensers.

In jet condensers, the exhaust steam and cooling water are mixed with each other and the heat transfer from steam to water is by direct conduction. In surface condensers, the exhaust steam and cooling water do not mix with each other, the water being circulated through a nest of tubes and the exhaust steam flows across the tubes, the heat transfer being by convection. A much lower exhaust pressure can be attained in surface condensers as compared to jet type and also the condensate is usefully recovered, whereas, in jet condensers, the condensate escapes with the cooling water. Therefore, for large power plants, jet condensers are not practical. Also, the supply of cooling water has to be reasonably pure. 2.1. Classification of Jet Condensers The jet condensers may be further classified: 1. Parallel Flow Type: Here the steam and cooling water enter at the top of the condenser and flow downwards in parallel. The coldest water is thus in contact with hot steam and, therefore, it is less efficient. 2. Counter Flow Type: Here, the steam flows upwards through the condenser, meeting the cooling water which flows downwards from the top. The air is removed at the top and the condensate and water, separately, at the bottom. In this type, since the hottest steam is in contact with the hottest cooling water, it is
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thermodynamically the most efficient, because heat transfer approximates towards reversibility. Also, the cooling of air is most effective and this will reduce the capacity of the air suction pump. The counter flow type is of two designs: (a) Low Level Jet Condenser: Here, Figure 1, the supply of cold cooling water is drawn into the condenser shell, by the vacuum created by the air pump. The water is sprayed downward in the shell into the up flowing steam. The condensed steam and cooling water flowing downward are discharged into the hot well.

Figure 1 Low level jet condensers (b) High Level Jet Condenser: This is also known as far barometric jet condenser, Figure 2. If the bottom of the condenser is not less than, say, 10.5 m above the level of the water in collection tank (hot well), condensate extraction pump is not needed and the condenser is self discharging. But a pump is needed to inject the cooling water into the condenser shell, from the cooling pond. 3. Ejector Condenser: In this condenser, Figure 3, the cooling water enters the condenser at the top from 4.5 to 6 metre and flows downward through a number of co-axial guide cones in a tube. As the water rushes across the gaps between the central parts of nozzles (cones), it drags in the exhaust steam and air. The steam gets condensed in contact with cooling water and the air is carried forward with the water. This condenser thus acts as a pump as well as a condenser.

Figure 2 High-Level Condenser

Figure 3 Ejector condenser

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2.2. Classification of Surface Condensers Since in this type of condenser the cooling water and the exhaust steam do not mix with each other, the condensate is directly available as an ideal boiler feed. Due to this factor, if a sufficient amount of cooling water is available and the initial cost of the condenser is not of prime consideration, surface condenser is preferred to other types of condensers. The usual construction of the source condenser is that there is a cast iron or steel shell fitted with a tube plate at each end. A great number of tubes extend between these end plates to form the cooling surface. Surface condensers can be classified depending upon whether the water flows through the tubes or steam flows through the tubes. The usual flow pattern is that water flows through the tubes and the steam is circulated around the tubes as the outside of the tubes is not contaminated by the clean steam. The steam enters the condenser through an opening in the top of the shell. The steam after being condensed leaves the condenser through a hole at the bottom of the shell, Figure 4. The condensers may be single pass or two pass. In single pass condenser, the cooling water flows in one direction only through all the tubes and in the two pass tube (Figure 4), the water flows in one direction through part of the tubes and returns through the remaining of the tubes.

Figure 4

Surface condensers are also classified as parallel flow, counter flow or cross flow depending upon the direction of flow of the condensate relative to the tubes. They can be further classified as: down flow type, central flow type and inverted flow type. In the down flow type, Fig. 4, the steam enters at the top of the condenser and flows downwards over the tubes (through which cooling water flows) as the extraction pump is at the bottom. The cooling water flows in one direction through the lower half of the tube nest and returns in the reverse direction through the upper half of the tube nest. The air associated with the steam is also extracted from the bottom of condenser where the temperature is lowest, so that the work of the air pump is reduced. To keep the velocity of steam across the tubes, approximately uniform, the cross-section of the condenser is gradually reduced in width towards the bottom. Also, the tubes are generally placed close together in the lower part. In the central flow type, Figure 5, the suction pipe of the air pump is located at the centre of the tube nest. The condensate then leaves at the bottom
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where the condensate extraction pump is placed. In this type, the steam comes into close contact with the whole periphery of the tubes. In the inverted type, the air suction pump is at the top. The steam flows upwards and then the condensate returns to the bottom of the condenser by flowing near the outer surface. The condensate pump is at the bottom of the condenser.

Figure 5 2.3. Evaporative Condenser In this condenser Figure 6, the steam flows through a set of gilled piping which is bent backwards and forwards and placed in a vertical place. Cooling water is sprayed from the top over the pipes. As it drips from one pipe to the other, it forms a thin film over the pipes. Air blowing across the pipes (by natural or mechanical means) rapidly evaporates the water film resulting in condensing of the steam flowing through the pipes. This condenser is very suitable when water is expensive or a small quantity of pure water is available.

Figure 6
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3.

VACUUM CORRECTED TO 76 CM OF MERCURY

The pressure inside the condenser is less than atmospheric pressure and is known as 'Vacuum'. It is measured in terms of cm or mm of mercury and it depends upon the barometric pressure and the absolute pressure in the condenser.
Absolute pressure in condenser = (Barometric height Vacuum ) mm of Hg
Corrected Vacuum (mm of Hg) = 760 (Absolute pressure in condenser) = 760 (Barometri c height Vacuum ) mm of Hg

(1) (2)

4.

VACUUM EFFICIENCY

Air pump in a condenser removes the air from the condenser. Vacuum efficiency depends upon the amount of air present in the condenser. If there is no air present in the condenser, partial pressure of steam will be the same as the condenser pressure (which will be the sum of p.p of air + p.p of steam) and the vacuum efficiency is 100% which is defined as:
v =
Partial pressure of steam correspond ing to condenser temperatur e x 100 Absolute pressure in condenser

(3)

This is also defined as,

v =
Actual vacuum produced at steam inlet to condenser x 100 Barometric pressure - Absolute pressure of steam

(4)

4.

EFFECT OF VACUUM

The high vacuum pressure in the condenser affects the steam consumption, the temperature of steam and its specific volume. A large variation occurs in these factors for small variations of vacuum pressure. One of the chief causes of poor performance of surface condenser is the pressure drop which occurs as the steam flows over the tubes. This pressure drop, by increasing the volume of steam, tends to destroy the vacuum. By using a central flow type of surface condenser, the pressure drop is considerably reduced. 6. EFFECT OF AIR LEAKAGE 1. an increase in the condenser pressure which limits the useful heat drop in the turbine. 2. a lowering of the partial pressure of the steam and of the saturation temperature along with it. This means that the latent heat increases and therefore, more cooling water is required. Also, the undercooling of the condensate is likely to be more severe. This will result in lower efficiency. 7. DALTON'S LAW OF PARTIAL PRESSURES

The effects of air leakage into a condenser are:

According to Dalton's law of partial pressures the pressure exerted by a mixture of two gases or a gas and a vapour is equal to the sum of the pressures which each fluid would exert if occupying the same space alone. Or the final pressure of the mixture is equal to the sum of the partial pressure of each constituent. This means that each constituent of the mixture behaves as if it occupied the space alone and is independent of the presence of the
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other constituent. Mass of air in a mixture of steam and air can be calculated if the temperature and pressure of the mixture are known, as under: 1. 2. 3. obtain partial pressure (p.p) of steam ps from steam tables, the pressure of steam corresponding to the temperature of the mixture. Then, from, p (pressure of mixture) = p.p of air (pa) + ps
pa = p ps

mass of air, ma
pa v = R m a T

8.

CONDENSER EFFICIENCY
Actual rise in the temperatur e of cooling water Maximum possible rise in temperatur e of cooling water

The condenser efficiency is defined as

Condenser efficiency =

Ideally, in a condenser only latent heat of steam should be removed. It means that the temperature of condensate is equal to the saturation temperature of steam corresponding to condenser pressure. In an actual condenser, however, a certain amount of undercooling is necessary to maintain vacuum.
Condenser efficiency = T2 T1 Ts T 1

(2)

where

T1 = inlet temperature of cooling water T2 = outlet temperature of cooling water Ts = saturation temperature corresponding to condenser pressure T2 = Ts

Ideally 9.

AMOUNT OF COOLING WATER

The amount of cooling water can be determined from: Loss of heat by steam = gain of heat by cooling water ms (Total heat of entering steam - Total heat of condensate)
= m w . Cw T2 T 1 m s (hci h ce ) = m w . Cw T2 T 1
mw = m s (hci hce ) Cw T2 T 1

where mw ms hci hce Cw

= = = = =

mass of cooling water, kg/hr mass of steam, kg/hr steam enthalpy at the condenser inlet enthalpy of condensate water heat capacity = 4.187 kJ/kg
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The cooling water temperature of the condenser outlet is usually 3 to 10oC below the exhaust steam temperature. The cooling water ranges from 60 to 90 kg and more per kg of exhaust steam. mw/ms is called the "cooling ratio".