Process Heat Transfer

Lecturer: Muhammad Sulaiman

m.sulaiman@uet.edu.pk
Department of Chemical, Polymer and Composite Materials Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore(KSK Campus)

1
Condensation
Condensation is the change of the physical state of
matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase, and is the
reverse of vaporization.
The amount of heat that must be removed per unit mass to
achieve condensation of a saturated vapor is called the latent heat
of condensation λ.
Condensation begins at the dew point.
For condensation to take place, it is necessary to remove heat
from the condensing fluid by means of a cooling medium.
Condensation
Condensers are used in a variety of operations in chemical and
petroleum processing, including distillation, refrigeration, and
power generation. Virtually, every distillation column employs
either a partial or total condenser to liquefy some, or all, of the
overhead vapor stream, thereby providing reflux for the column
and (often) a liquid product stream.
In refrigeration operations, condensers are used to liquefy the
high-pressure refrigerant vapor leaving the compressor.
Heat exchangers referred to as surface condensers are used to
condense the exhaust from steam turbines that generate in-house
power for plant operations.
 Energy Balance
For a pure vapor, the enthalpy difference is the latent heat of
condensation λ;
We have assumed that the cooling medium is a fluid that
exchanges sensible heat.
Energy Balance
It is also possible to use as refrigerant a fluid that performs the
opposite change of phase, removing heat from the condensing
fluid and suffering a vaporization process (this is the case with
ammonia or propane vaporization in refrigeration cycles).
In these cases, the enthalpy balance can be written as

where the subscript R denotes the refrigerant.

Types of Systems

1. Conventional Systems
2. Refrigeration Systems
Conventional Systems
Conventional condensers fall into two basic categories:
1.Contact Condenser
2.Surface Condenser
 Contact Condenser
In a contact condenser, the coolant and gas stream are in physical
contact.
Contact condensers are simple devices such as spray towers or
water jet ejectors.
Contact condenser cool the vapor mixture by spraying cool liquids
directly into the gas streams.
These system also used for scrubbing.
Contact Condenser
Types of Condensers

1. Horizontal shell-side condenser

2. Horizontal tube-side condenser
3. Vertical shell-side condenser
4. Vertical tube-side condenser
Reflux condenser
A reflux condenser, also called a vent condenser or knockback
condenser, is a vertical tube-side condenser in which the vapor
flows upward, as indicated in Figure. These units are typically used
when relatively small amounts of light components are to be
separated from a vapor mixture. The heavier components condense
and flow downward along the tube walls, while the light
components remain in the vapor phase and exit through the vent in
the upper header.
Condensation Type
To condense a vapor, it is necessary to extract heat from it. This
heat extraction is performed with a refrigerant fluid that must be
at a lower temperature than the fluid to be condensed.
Both streams, vapor and refrigerant, are separated by a solid wall
that will be at an intermediate temperature between the fluid
temperatures. For condensation to occur, it is necessary for the
wall temperature to be below the dew point temperature of the
vapor at the prevailing pressure.
Mechanism
• Dropwise Condensation
• Filmwise Condensation
 Dropwise Condensation
The first one takes place when the condensate exhibits little
surface affinity for the wall. The vapor condenses in the form of
small droplets that grow on the surface. These droplets act as
nucleation centers for the condensation of additional vapor,
increasing their size. When the weight of the droplets
overcomes the surface attraction forces, the droplet falls down,
leaving bare metal on which successive droplets of condensate
may form
 Filmwise Condensation
Let’s consider a vertical-plane surface in contact with a vapor
(Figure). In film condensation, the vapor condenses on the cold
surface, forming a continuous film. This film descends owing to
the action of gravity, and the liquid flows downward. While the
film drains, more liquid is incorporated into the film owing to
vapor condensation. The film thickness increases downward
because the amount of liquid in the film also increases.
Filmwise condensation
Limitation
All the condensation heat must be removed by the refrigerant
fluid, which is on the other side of the solid wall. So all the
condensation heat, transferred by the condensing vapor to the
vapor-liquid interface, must go through the condensate film to
pass into the refrigerant. This means that the condensate film
constitutes an additional resistance to heat transfer. The values of
the heat transfer coefficients for Filmwise condensation thus are
lower than those of dropwise condensation. However, most fluids
form condensate films. Additionally, dropwise condensation is an
unstable process that turns into film condensation in a rather
unpredictable way. Thus, since it is not possible to guarantee
dropwise condensation, the usual assumption is to design on the
hypothesis of film condensation, which implies a conservative
approach.
 Condensation on a Vertical Surface: Nusselt Theory

Condensation on a plane wall

The basic heat-transfer
correlations for film
condensation were first
derived by Nusselt. Consider
the situation depicted in
Figure, in which a pure-
component saturated vapor
condenses on a vertical wall,
forming a thin film of
condensate that flows
downward due to gravity.
Condensation on a plane wall
Condensation on a Vertical Surface: Nusselt Theory

Assumptions
1.The flow in the condensate film is laminar.
2.The temperature profile across the condensate film is linear. This
assumption is reasonable for a very thin film.
3.The shear stress at the vapor–liquid interface is negligible.
4.The fluid velocity in the film is small so that the inertial terms (terms of
second degree in velocity) in the Naiver–Stokes equations are negligible.
5.Only latent heat is transferred, i.e., sub cooling of the condensate is
neglected.
6.Fluid properties and the wall temperature, Tw, are constant.
7.The wall is flat (no curvature).
8.The system is at steady state.
Condensation on vertical tubes
For a bank of nt tubes, the wetted perimeter is nt πD, where D is
either the inner- or outer-tube diameter, depending on whether
condensation occurs inside or outside the tubes.
For tube diameters of practical interest, the effect of wall
curvature on the condensate film thickness is negligible.
Condensation on Horizontal Tubes

The Nusselt analysis for condensation on the external

surface of a horizontal tube is similar to that for a vertical
surface.
Turbulence in condensate film
Following three-flow regimes are recognized:
1.Laminar wave free (Re≤30)
2.Laminar wavy (30<Re≤1600)
3.Turbulent (Re>1600)
Example
• A stream consisting of 5000 lb/h of saturated n-propyl alcohol (1-
propanol) vapor at 207◦F and approximately atmospheric
pressure will be condensed using a tube bundle containing 3769
tubes arranged for a single pass. The tubes are 0.75 in. OD, 14
BWG, with a length of 12 ft. Physical properties of the condensate
are as follows:
1.kL = 0.095 Btu/h · ft ·◦ F
2.ρL = 49 lbm/ft3
3.μL = 0.5 cp
 To Find
Estimate the condensing-side heat-transfer coefficient for the
following cases:
1.The tube bundle is vertical and condensation occurs inside the tubes.
2.The tube bundle is horizontal and condensation occurs outside the tubes.