CONDENSER AND TYPES

A condenser in the cycle of compression – refrigeration is to change the hot gas being discharged
from the compressor to a liquid prepared for use in the evaporator. The condenser accomplishes
this action by the removal of sufficient heat from the hot gas. To ensure its condensation at the
pressure available in the condenser the heat is shifted to another medium like water or air to cool
the condenser.

There are three types of condensers: air-cooled; water-cooled and evaporative. We will discuss
these three types one by one.

Number one: 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 ant the total quantity of the refrigerant in the
refrigeration system is small. Air-cooled condensers are also called coil condensers as they are
usually made of copper or aluminium coil. Air-cooled condensers occupy a comparatively larger
space than water-cooled condensers. Air-cooled condensers are of two types: natural convection
and forced convection. In the natural convection type, the air flows over it in a natural way
depending upon the temperature of the condenser coil. In the forced air type, a fan operated by a
motor blows air over the condenser coil.

Number two: Water-cooled condensers.

Water-cooled condensers are used for large refrigerating plants; big packaged-air conditioners;
central air conditioning plants, etc. These are used in plants where cooling loads are excessively
high and a large quantity of refrigerant flows through the condenser. There are three types of
water-cooled condensers: tube in tube or double pipe type; shell and coil type and shell and tube
type. In all these condensers the refrigerant flows through one side of the piping while the water
flows through the other piping cooling the refrigerant and condensing it.

Number three: Evaporative condensers.

Evaporative condensers are usually used in ice plants. They are a combination of water-cooled and
air-cooled condensers. In these condensers the hot refrigerant flows through the coils. Water is
sprayed over these coils. At the same time the fan draws air from the bottom side of the
condenser and discharges it from the top side of the condenser. The spray water that comes in
contact with condenser coil gets evaporated in the air and it absorbs the heat from the condenser,
cools the refrigerants and condenses it. Evaporative condensers have the benefits of water-cooled
as well as air-cooled condensers, hence it occupies less space. However, keeping the evaporative
condenser clean and free of scale is very difficult and requires lots of….