DOI 10.

1007/s10749-016-0704-9
Power Technology and Engineering Vol. 50, No. 3, September, 2016

NUMERICAL-EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE HEAT TRANSFER

IN AN AIR-COOLED CONDENSER MODEL

V. A. Sukhanov,1 A. P. Bezukhov,1 I. A. Bogov,1 and V. V. Tolmachev1

Translated from Élektricheskie Stantsii, No. 4, April 2016, pp. 23 – 28.

The results of combined numerical-experimental studies of the heat-transfer process in an air-cooled con-
denser (ACC) model are presented. The range of coordination of rational values of the average heat-transfer
coefficient from air-steam mixture to tubes (a asm ), the average velocity of air-steam mixture entering the
ACC for different temperatures of cooling air, and typical ranges of condensate depression temperatures is sci-
entifically substantiated. A method and an algorithm for determining rational values of a asm are outlined.
Keywords: steam-turbine unit; air-cooled condenser; heat-transfer coefficient; condensate depression; cool-
ing air temperature; air-steam mixture.

According to the expert analysis [1], in the 21st century,
air-cooled condensers (ACC) will mainly be used for heat re-
moval in thermodynamic cycles of steam-turbine units oper-
ating either as a component of combined-cycle power plants
or autonomously. Therefore, a very important task of modern
power engineering is to improve the performance of such
condensers. To this end, it is first necessary to improve the
design of ACCs using science-based design methodologies
validated against appropriate experimental data. In this con-
nection, it appeared reasonable to use a combined numeri-
cal-experimental method to study the heat-transfer process in
ACC. The experimental studies were conducted using a
physical model on a special testing facility [2, 3] (see Fig. 1
for its combined circuit and instrument diagram).
The objective of this research is to determine rational
values of the average heat-transfer coefficient from air-steam
mixture (ASM) to tubes.
During the experiments, the superheated steam contained
in ASM was supplied to the ACC.
Values of a asm were determined by the Newton – Rich-
man formula:
Q thermophysical properties of water and steam implemented
a asm = , (1)
Fa Dt asm
where a asm is the heat-transfer coefficient from ASM to
tubes, W/(m2 · K);
Q = Gc¢¢ ( h¢s - h¢¢c ) + Gs ( hs¢ - h¢¢s ) + Ga ( h¢a - h¢¢a )
1 Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg,
Russia; e-mail: sukhanoff@mail.ru
is the heat power transferred from ASM to tubes, W; G¢¢c
is the condensate mass flow rate in the ACC, kg/sec;
G¢¢s = G¢s - G¢¢c is the steam mass flow rate in the lower head-
ers, kg/sec; Gs¢ is the steam mass flow rate at the ACC inlet,
kg/sec; G¢a is the air mass flow rate to the ACC, kg/sec; h¢s
and h¢¢s are the enthalpies of steam in the upper and lower
headers of the ACC, J/kg; hc¢¢ is the enthalpy of the conden-
sate in the elbows of the lower headers of the ACC, J/kg; h¢a
and ha¢¢ are the enthalpies of air in the upper and lower head-
ers, J/kg; Fin = ðdinltbntb is the inner heat-transfer area of
the ACC formed by bimetallic tubes with spiral L-shaped
fins, m2; ltb = 0.955 m is the length of tubes in heat-transfer
units of the ACC; din = 0.0208 m is the inner diameter of
finned tubes; ntb = 44 is the number of tubes in the ACC;
Ätasm = t asm - t ins is the temperature drop between the ASM
and the inner surface of the tubes, °C; t asm and t ins are the
temperatures of the ASM and the inner surface of the tubes
averaged over Fin, °C.
The enthalpies h¢s , h¢¢s , and hc¢¢ were determined as hs¢ =
= hs¢ ( p¢s , t¢ ), h¢¢s = h¢¢s ( p¢¢s , t ¢¢ ), hc¢¢ = hc¢¢ ( p¢¢s , t ¢¢c ) using tables of
as software function libraries [4]. The temperatures of the
ASM in the upper and lower headers (t¢ and t¢¢) were mea-
sured with the thermometers T1, T2, and T3, and the temper-
ature of the condensate in the elbows of the lower headers
( t ¢¢c ) was measured with the thermometers T4 and T5.
The enthalpies h¢a and ha¢¢ were determined from the tempera-
tures t¢ and t¢¢ using tables of thermophysical properties
of dry air, also implemented as software function libraries
[4]. The partial pressures of steam in the upper and lower

318
1570-145X/16/5003-0318 © 2016 Springer Science + Business Media New York
Numerical-Experimental Studies of the Heat Transfer in an Air-Cooled Condenser Model 319

RNV
BV3 CO T9

PVG
T1

UH
P IC2
PG

2 T8
PDG1 ACC PDG2
AP
MP TS

t
G2
PP IC1
T2 HU1 T7 HU2

CWS T2 LH1 LH2 T3

Fig. 1. Combined circuit and instrument di-
MPG1 PPT1 Fn2
agram of the testing facility: UH is upper BV6
AP1 T6
header; LH1, LH2 are lower headers; HU1, Fr2
ESG
P3 WM
HU2 are heat-transfer units; P1 – P3 are
Fn1
pumps; BV1 – – BV8 are ball valves; CV1, BV2

CV2 are check valves; Fr1, Fr2 are filters; TV

Atmospheric air
SOV is solenoid-operated valve; ESG is BV4 BV5
electric steam generator; TS is temperature BV7
switch; RNV is regulating (needle) valve;
CO is calibrated orifice; MT is measuring E1 E2 BV1 P1 CV1 Fr1 SOV
WE CWS
tank; E1, E2 are elbows; WM is water meter;
T4 T5
PG is pressure gage; PVG is pres-
sure-and-vacuum gage; PDG1, PDG2 are Drain
pressure differential gages; MPG1, MPG2 MT
are micropressure gages; T1 – T9 are ther- steam
mometers; IC1, IC2 are infrared cameras; P water
CV2 P2
is pyrometer; PPT1, PPT2 are Pito – Prandtl air
tubes; AP1, AP2 are air probes; WE is water BV8 residual gas
ejector; Fn1, Fn2 are fans; TV is throttle Drain
valve; CWS is cold water supply.

headers ( p¢s and p¢¢s ) were determined from the total pressure
of the ASM ( p¢), its pressure loss in the ACC (Äp ), and the
weight fraction of air in steam at the inlet and outlet of the
ACC (å¢ = G¢a G¢s and 墢 = G¢¢a G¢¢s , G¢¢a = Gs¢¢ ) using Dalton’s
law and the Mendeleev – Clapeyron equation. The pressure
p¢ was determined as the difference between the readings of a
barometer and the reference pressure-and-vacuum gage PVG
(accuracy class 0.1; made by JUMO), and Äp was measured
with the pressure differential gages PDG1 and PDG2 (accu-
racy class 0.1; made by JUMO). The G¢¢c and Gs¢ were deter-
mined from the average rate of increase in the condensate
level in the measuring tank with the ball valves BV4 and BV5
open and closed, respectively (Fig. 1). The G¢a was deter-
mined as the sum of air mass flows to the ACC with feed-
water (Gafw), through openings in structural members of the
testing facility that are kept at underpressure (Gaop), and
through special calibrated orifices CO (Gao) [3].
To determine t asm , we represent Q as follows based on
the superposition principle:
steam, J/kg; where Qos2 = G¢¢s ( h¢s - h¢¢s ) is the thermal power
abstracted from the portion of the superheated steam that
does not condense in tubes, W; Qph = Gc¢¢(hss – hsc) is the ther-
mal power of the phase transformation during the conden-
sation of steam, W; hsc = hsc ( p¢s ) is the enthalpy of
saturated condensate, J/kg; Qc = G¢¢c ( hsc - h¢¢c ) is the thermal
power abstracted from the depressed condensate, W; Qsa =
= G¢a ( h¢a - h¢¢a ) is the thermal power abstracted from the air of
the ASM, W.
According to the superposition principle underlying
Eq. (2), the partial heat-transfer areas corresponding to the
components Qos1, Qos2, Qph, Qc, and Qsa can be determined as
follows:
fos1 = Fos1/Fa = Qos1/Q;
fos2 = Fos2/Fa = Qos2/Q;

fph = Fph/Fa = Qph/Q;

Q = Qos1 + Qos2 + Qph + Qc + Qsa, (2)

where Qos1 = Gc¢¢ ( h¢s – hss) is the thermal power abstracted fc = Fc/Fa = Qc/Q;
from the portion of the superheated steam that condenses in
tubes, W; hss = hss ( p¢s ) is the enthalpy of dry saturated fsa = Fsa/Fa = Qsa/Q.
320 V. A. Sukhanov et al.

Thus, the formula for t asm (in °C) takes the form saturated steam, °C; t insNu is the average temperature of the
inner surface of tubes, °C;
( t ¢ + t ss ) ( t ¢ + t ¢¢ )
t asm = f os1 + f os2 +
2 2 4(G¢s + G¢a )
¢ =
c asm
r ¢asm pd a2 n tb
( t sc + t ¢¢c ) ( t ¢ + t ¢¢ )
+ t ss f ph + fc + f sa ,
2 2 is the average velocity of ASM at the inlet to tubes, m/sec;
r ¢asm = r ¢s + r ¢a is the average density of ASM, kg/m3;
where tss = t ss ( p¢s ) and tsc = t sc ( p¢s ) are the temperatures of
saturated steam and condensate, °C.
The average temperature t ins (in °C) of the inner surface p¢ - p¢s
r ¢s = r ¢s ( p¢s , t ¢ ), r ¢a =
of tubes was determined from the heat-conduction equation R a ( t ¢ + 27315
. )

é 1 ln( d nf d o ) ln( d o d a ) ù are the average densities of steam and air in ASM, kg/m3; Ra
t ins = t ¢ca + Q ê + + ú,
ë a ca Fo 2pl tb n tb l f 2pl tb n tb l tb û is the gas constant of air, J/(kg · K); Ätc = t ss ( p¢s ) - t ¢¢c is the
condensate depression temperature in the ACC, °C.
where do = 0.0258 m is the outer diameter of the finned The average temperature of the inner surface of tubes
tubes; ëtb is the thermal conductivity of finned tubes (steel was determined by the method of successive approximations.
20), W/(m · K); d nf = 0.0268 m is the outer diameter of The average values of this temperature, t insNu = t ( p¢s ) - 5,
tubes with no fins; ëf is the thermal conductivity of fins (alu- and cooling-air temperature, t ca = t ¢ca , were used as the first
minum), W/(m · K); t ¢ca is the cooling-air temperature at the approximation to calculate the average values of the heat-
transfer coefficient a sNu and the reduced coefficient a caNu
ACC inlet (Fig. 1, T7 ), °C; a ca is the average reduced
[5] from which the thermal power transferred from steam to
heat-transfer coefficient between the outer finned surface of
cooling air was determined:
tubes and cooling air that accounts for the fin efficiency, the
method of deriving the generalized (similarity) equation, and
( t ¢ - t ¢sa )pl tb n tb
the angle of incidence of the flow [5], W/(m2 · K); Fo » QNu = ,
» 54.36 m2 is the total external heat-transfer area of the é 1 ln( d o d a ) ln( d nf d o ) 1 ù
ê + + + ú
ACC. To validate the calculated average temperatures of the a d
ë sNu a 2l tb 2l f a d j
caNu nf û
outer surface of tubes, the temperature of this surface was
measured with Optris PI 200 and NEC Thermo Tracer where ö = Fo/Fnf is the extension ratio; Fnf is the area of the
TH 7102 infrared cameras and Optris MS Plus pyrometer outer heat-transfer surface with diameter d nf , m2.
(TIC1, TIC2, P in Fig. 1).
Next, QNu was used to determine the new average value
Thus, we have everything needed to calculate a asm by
of t insNu equal to t insNu new . Thus, the value of t insNu was re-
formula (1). For practical convenience, we represent a asm as
fined by the method of iterations until | t insNu - t insNu new | £
follows:
£ 0.001. The calculated values of QNu and t insNu were then
a asm a asm used to refine the value of t ca by the method of iterations
= ( c asm , t ¢sa , Dt c ),
a sNu a sNu with an error £0.001. The values of QNu and t insNu were re-
fined as well.
where The results of the numerical-experimental studies
a asm a sNu = a asm a sNu ( c asm ¢ , t ¢sa ) and a asm a sNu =
( hs¢ - hss + r )r 2c g sin( 60° )l3c ¢
= a asm a sNu ( Dt c , t sa )] are presented in Figs. 2 and 3.
a sNu = 0.9434 ¢ is increased, a asm a sNu
m c ( t ss - t insNu )l tb Figure 2 indicates that as c asm
increases for all specified cooling-air temperatures at the
ACC inlet ( t ¢ca ). However, the rate of this increase increases
is the average heat-transfer coefficient between condensed
with t ca as follows:
steam and inclined wall, which is determined from the
Nusselt formula for steam at rest, W/(m · K); r is the specific ¢ , °C
tsa ¢
casm a asm a sNu
heat of evaporation, J/kg; rc = r c ( p¢s ) is the density of con- –4 – 1 from ~1.4 to ~53.1 from ~0.04 to ~0.77
densate, kg/m; ëc = l c ( p¢s ) is the thermal conductivity of 3–9 from ~1.0 to ~40.7 from ~0.03 to ~0.89
16 – 22 from ~1.6 to ~26.3 from ~0.02 to ~1.40
condensate, W/(m · K); ìc = m c ( p¢s ) is the coefficient of dy-
namic viscosity of condensate, Pa · sec; g is the acceleration ¢ from approximately 1.0 to 10.0,
In the range of c asm
of gravity, m/sec2; tss = t ss ( p¢s ) is the temperature of dry a asm a sNu is weakly dependent on t ca .
Numerical-Experimental Studies of the Heat Transfer in an Air-Cooled Condenser Model 321

1.4
1 b
1.2 2 c1 c2 c3 c4 c5
3
1.0
áasm/ásNu

0.8 5

0.6
6
0.4
a
4
0.2

0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
¢ , m/sec
casm

Fig. 2. Dependence of a asm a sNu on casm and tca : the data points corresponding to cooling-air temperatures at the ACC inlet: 1, 4 – 1°C;
2, 3 – 9°C; 3, 16 – 22°C; 4 – 6, fitting lines; a, b, lines bounding the range of rational values of a asm a sNu ; c1 – c5, isovels of ASM.

1.4
e
d 1
1.2 c 2
b 3
1.0
áasm/ásNu

0.8

0.6
4

0.4 5
6 a
0.2

0.0
0 4 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
2 6
Ätc, °C

Fig. 3. Dependence of a asm a sNu on Ätc and tca : c, d, e, lines bounding the range of rational values of a asm a sNu (for the other notation see
Fig. 2).

Seeking rational ways of improving the efficiency of
ACCs, it is necessary to increase the average heat-transfer
coefficient k which is determined by heat-transfer resistance.
The maximum value of k is known to be determined by
the minimum of the heat-transfer coefficients. An analysis
of the numerical-experimental studies of the heat-transfer
process in ACC indicates that there exist conditions under
which the heat-transfer coefficients have parity in the influ-
ence on k. This parity is represented by the line a in Fig. 2.
The greater the deviation from the line a toward greater val-
ues of a asm a sNu , the weaker the influence of a asm on k.
Analyzing the dependence of k on a asm , we see that
dk da asm » 0 when a asm » 4800 W/(m2 · K). Thus, in the
specified range of parameters of heat-transfer media in the
ACC, a asm has almost no effect on k when a asm a sNu »
» 0.98 (Fig. 2, line b ). However, to increase a asm , it is neces-
sary to increase the average velocity of the ASM at the inlet
to the ACC tubes, but, at the same time, to prevent erosion
and an increase in ASM pressure losses in these tubes.
Therefore, the isovels c1 – c5 of ASM in Fig. 2 may be con-
sidered to be bounding, depending on the material the ACC
tubes are made of.
Figure 3 indicates that as a asm a sNu is increased, Ätc de-
creases for all specified cooling-air temperatures at the ACC
inlet ( t ¢ca ). However, the rate of this decrease increases with
t ¢ca . However, if a asm a sNu < 0.05, then it is quite weakly
dependent on t ca .
Based on the reached level of Ätc in the ACC and numer-
ous predictions of its decrease, Fig. 3 shows lines c, d, and e
bounding the ranges of condensate depression: 4 £ Ätc £
£ 6°C, 2 £ Ätc £ 4°C, 0 £ Ätc £ 2°C [3]. Thus, the bounding
lines a-e and lines c1 – c5 in Figs. 2 and 3 define the region
of coordination of rational values of a asm . The a asm is deter-
mined as a function of a sNu using t ¢ca , Ätc, and c asm ¢ . For
convenience, this functions can be represented as
a asm = ca sNu ,
where ÷ is a correction factor.
322
The range of coordination of rational values of
a asm a sNu and typical parameters of the ACC is presented
in the table above.
An algorithm for the calculation of a asm using the table
above is as follows: t ¢ca ® a sNu ® Ätc ® c asm
¢ ® ÷ ® a asm .
CONCLUSIONS
1. Combined numerical-experimental studies of the
heat-transfer process in an ACC have been performed, the
graphical results a asm a sNu = a asm a sNu ( c asm ¢ , t ¢sa ) and
a asm a sNu = a asm a sNu ( Dt c , t ¢sa )] have been interpreted,
and the range of coordination of rational values of
a asm a sNu with the average velocities of ASM at the inlet of
tubes for different cooling-air temperatures at the ACC inlet
and with typical ranges of condensate depression has been
identified.
2. A method and an algorithm for determining rational
values of a asm have been developed.
3. The results obtained can be used in designing ACCs,
selecting their operating conditions, and modernizing equip-
ment of thermal power plants.
V. A. Sukhanov et al.
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