CONDENSER

In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is a device or unit used to condense a gaseous
substance into a liquid state through cooling. In so doing, the latent heat is released by the
substance and transferred to the surrounding environment

FUNCTION
Refrigerant is nothing but removal of heat from a place where it is not required to a place where
it is not objectionable. For this purpose, the condenser is a device used for removing heat from
the refrigeration system. It receives vapour from compressor above the critical pressure and
temperature and bring down the temperature below the critical temperature by transferring heat
to medium which has low temperature refrigerant present in the condenser. Thus condenser
can be named as door opening provided to transfer unwanted heat out of the refrigerating
system to two basic media namely, air and water. These two medium are so selected because
they are usually available in sufficient quantities and are cheap, easy to handle being non
dangerous.
TYPES OF CONDENSERS
1) Air cooled condensers: Air cooled condensers are used in small units like household
refrigerators, deep freezers, water coolers, window air-conditioners, split air-conditioners,
small packaged air-conditioners etc. These are used in plants where the cooling load is
small and the total quantity of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle is small. Air cooled
condensers are also called coil condensers as they are usually made of copper or aluminum
coil. Air cooled condensers occupy a comparatively larger space than water cooled
condensers.

THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF AIR COOLED CONDERNSERS:-

 FIN AND TUBE TYPE CONDENSER: - The constructional features are

copper tubing bent in the form of a coil upon which fins of copper, aluminum or steel
are fitted for radiating the heat of the compressed refrigerant. Because of its good
efficiency, it is normally used in domestic refrigerant, water coolers, small air
conditioners and ice cream chamber.

FIN AND TUBE TYPE CONDENSER

 PLATE TYPE CONDENSER: - A plate type condenser is a type of heat

exchanger that uses metal plates to transfer heat between two fluids. This has a major
advantage over a conventional heat exchanger in that the fluids are exposed to a
much larger surface area because the fluids are spread out over the plates. This
facilitates the transfer of heat, and greatly increases the speed of the temperature
change. Plate heat exchangers are now common and very small brazed versions are
used in the hot-water sections of millions of combination boilers. The high heat
transfer efficiency for such a small physical size has increased the domestic hot water
(DHW) flow rate of combination boilers. The small plate heat exchanger has made
a great impact in domestic heating and hot-water. Larger commercially versions use
gaskets between the plates, whereas smaller versions tend to be brazed.
 PLATE TYPE CONDENSER

 PLATE AND TUBE TYPE CONDENSER: - A copper tube of required

length and thickness fitted on a steel sheet. When the compressed refrigerant flows
through the copper tubes, the tubes get heated and transfer this heat to the plate,
where it is finally dissipated to air.
2) WATER COOLED CONDENSERS: - A water-cooled condenser is a heat
exchanger that removes heat from refrigerant vapor and transfers it to the water running
through it. Having the refrigerant vapor condensed on the outside of a tube does this. In
doing so, the vapor condenses and gives up heat to the water running inside the tube.

THERE ARE THREE BASIC TYPES:-

 SHELL AND TUBE CONDENSER: - It is the most common type of heat

exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical processes, and is suited for
higher-pressure applications. As its name implies, this type of heat exchanger
consists of a shell (a large pressure vessel) with a bundle of tubes inside it. One fluid
runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows over the tubes (through the shell) to
transfer heat between the two fluids. The set of tubes is called a tube bundle, and
may be composed of several types of tubes: plain, longitudinally finned, etc.

SHELL AND TUBE CONDENSER

 SHELL AND COIL CONDENSER: - Shell-and-Coils, condenser have a

welded or flanged outer shell with a coil inside are made of ribbed water tube. Coil
inside the shell is continuous. Water flows through pipes of the coil, while the
refrigerant flows above and beyond. The outer surface of the heat exchanger tubes
and fins are in contact with the refrigerant.

SHELL AND COIL CONDENSER

 DOUBLE TUBE CONDENSER: - A double tube heat condenser (also
sometimes referred to as a 'pipe-in-pipe' exchanger) is a type of heat exchanger
comprising a 'tube in tube' structure. As the name suggests, it consists of two pipes,
one within the other. One fluid flows through the inner pipe (analogous to the tube-
side in a shell and tube type exchanger) whilst the other flows through the outer pipe,
which surrounds the inner pipe (analogous to the shell-side in a shell and tube
exchanger).

DOUBLE TUBE CONDENSER

3) EVAPORATIVE CONDENSER: - The evaporative condenser has a cabinet with
a water-sprayed condenser, and it usually has one or more fans. The excess heat is
removed by evaporating water. In an evaporative condenser the primary coolant of the
cooling system is cooled, which is the opposite of a cooling tower. Evaporator condensers
are more expensive than dry coolers and are primarily used in large cooling systems or
systems where the outdoor temperature is high. In many locations around the world,
regulations limit the physical size of a cooling system and this in turn limits the use of
evaporative condensers. Spraying a condenser with water exploits the fact that the dew
point temperature is lower than the air temperature and that a wet surface transfers heat
more efficiently.

EVAPORATIVE CONDENSER