Condensers

Heat Exchangers (19ME1175)

Introduction
• Condenser is a two-phase flow heat exchanger.
• Heat generated by condensation of vapor is removed by a coolant.
• Condensers are mainly classified as
• Indirect contact and
• Direct contact
• Indirect contact condensers: Here vapor and coolant are separated by
a solid surface.
• These are classified as
• Air-cooled, Shell-and-tube and Plate

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Introduction
• Direct contact condensers: Here vapor and coolant are directly
mixed.
• Techniques used in direct contact condensers are
• Vapor bubbled into pool of liquid,
• Liquid sprayed in to vapor, and
• Liquid flow over a packed-column downwards and vapor flow upwards.
• In air cooled condensers fins are provided on air side to compensate the low heat
transfer coefficients on air side.

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Shell-and-Tube Condensers
Horizontal Shell-Side
Condensers:
• E-Type: One-Pass
Shell
• G-Type: Split flow
• H-Type: Double split
flow
• J-Type: Cross flow
• X-Type: Cross flow

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Shell-and-Tube Condensers
Horizontal Shell-Side
Condensers:
• E-Type: One-Pass
Shell
• G-Type: Split flow
• H-Type: Double split
flow
• J-Type: Cross flow
• X-Type: Cross flow

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Horizontal Shell-side Condenser
• In shell-and-tube condensers the
condensation may occur either shell or
tube side.
• A condenser HE must have a vent for
non-condensable gas.
• J-type have some advantages over E-
type.
• It has two vapor inlets on either side of
the shell and one vent at the middle for
non-condensable gas.
• This allows more vapor for
condensation. Horizontal shell-side condenser
• Load on either side must be same to
avoid collapse of periodic vapor from
both side.
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Horizontal Shell-side Condenser
• It is very useful for vacuum
operation.
• It can handle large volumes of
vapor without any chance of tube
vibration.
• Pressure drops are low.
• It has three nozzle inlets for vapor.
• A perforated distributor is placed
at the top for good vapor
distribution.
• Non-condensable gases must be Cross flow condenser
vented as low as possible in the
HE.
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Horizontal Shell-side Condenser

• It is universal practice to use an

impingement plate under vapor inlet nozzle
to prevent tube erosion from the high
velocity of the incoming vapor.
• Otherwise, the outer tubes of the first row
of tube bundles could be subject to serious
damage.

Impingement plate and vapor belt

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Horizontal Shell-side Condenser
• It is universal practice to use an impingement plate
under vapor inlet nozzle to prevent tube erosion from
the high velocity of the incoming vapor.
• Otherwise, the outer tubes of the first row of tube
bundles could be subject to serious damage.
• Extra tube support plate is inserted near the inlet
nozzle when there is problem of flow induced
vibration.

Impingement plate and vapor belt

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Vertical Shell-side Condenser
• Vent is near the condensate exit at
the cold end of the HE.
• It is used when condensing range
mixture is to be condensed.
• There will be good mixing
between vapor and condensate.
• It is difficult to clean the inside of
the tubes.
• It is not useful with a fouling
coolant.
Vertical E-Shell condenser

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Vertical Tube-side Condenser
• Here both vapor and condensate move
downwards.
• Vapor enters from top flows down through
the tubes with condensate draining from the
tubes by gravity and vapor shear.
• Tube-side condensers should have adequate
venting.

Vertical in-tube down-flow condenser

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Vertical Tube-side Condensers
• Here vapor move upwards with downward
counter flow movement of any condensate
formed on the tube walls.
• Capacity is limited due to flooding of the
tubes.
• The vapor condenses on the cold tube walls,
and the condensate film drains downward by
gravity.
• Any non-condensable gas passes up through
the tube and evacuated through a vent at top.
• A cut is provided to the tubes at angle to
provide drip points to the condensate.
• Vapor velocity entering the HE must be low.
Reflux condenser 12
Horizontal tube-side Condensers
• Horizontal tube-side condensation is
mostly used in air-cooled condensers,
Kettle type condensers.
• They could be either single tube pass
or double tube pass.
• Vapor is partially condensed in first
tube pass.
• The mixture of vapor-condensate
leaves the first tube pass and enters the
second tube pass.
• Difficult to find the fraction of Horizontal in-tube condenser
condensate entering the second tube
pass.
• Mostly used for sub-cooling purpose.

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Steam Turbine Exhaust Condensers
• These are surface condensers and not
different with shell-side condensers.
• Mostly these are X-type of
condensers.
• These are used for heavy duty
condensation.
• Operates with less temperature drop
and less pressure drop conditions.
• Large in size and fixed by support
plates to the tubes.

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Plate Condensers
• These are
• Plate-and-frame
• Spiral plate
• Plate-fin
• Plate-and-frame type condensers are limited to
fluid streams with pressure below 20 bar and
operating temperature below 250oC.
• Not suitable for condensation purpose coz small
plate sizes to handle large volumes of vapor.
• Frequently used to heat some process steam with
service steam available.
• Spiral plate condensers can operate pressure up to
20 bar and temperature up to 400oC.
• Plate-fin HEs are compact with surface densities
around 2000 m2/m3.
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Air-Cooled Condensers
• These are favored where water is a short
supply.
• Condensation occurs in tube side with
transverse fins over the tubes to improve
the air-side heat transfer coefficient.
• Air-cooled condensers are either forced
draught or induced draught.
• These required relatively large ground area
and space around the unit.
• Noise from fans and problems with freezing
of condensate with cold climatic conditions.

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Direct Contact Condensers
• These are inexpensive and simple to design.
• Limited applications as coolant and
condensate are mixed.
• High heat transfer rate per unit volume and
there is no fouling problems.
• Pool condenser: Vapor is injected into a
pool of liquid, which may be process liquid
to be heated.
• Another is sub-cooled liquid is sprayed into
the vapor in the large vessel.

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Design and Operational Considerations
Requirements that should be considered during selection, as well as design
practices of condensers
• Condensation Modes: Condensers are designed under filmwise condensation
conditions. Although dropwise condensation gives higher heat transfer coefficients,
it is not possible to sustain this condensation mode for a long period of time on
individual condensers..
• Condensation Regimes: Depending on the flow characteristics of the vapor and
condensate, the designer must determine the flow regime applicable along the vapor
flow path. At low vapor velocities, the so-called "gravity controlled" or Nusselt flow
regime exists. At high vapor velocities, the "vapor shear controlled" regime will
predominate.
• Desuperheating: Some vapor stream enters the condenser superheated. If the wall
temperature is below the dew point, condensation will take place and the
desuperheating duty must be calculated as a single-phase process.
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Design and Operational Considerations
Requirements that should be considered during selection, as well as design practices
of condensers
• Subcooling: It is sometimes desirable to sub-cool the condensate slightly before further
processing. This can be accomplished by raising the level of the condensate so that it would be
in contact with the cool tubes. For larger sub-cooling heat applications, it is more efficient to
allocate a separate unit.
• Construction Considerations:
✓ Vertical in-tube condensation is very effective, but the tube length is limited as it may fill up
with condensate. Thus, the size of such condensers is restricted, as otherwise large shell
diameters would be required.
✓ Horizontal tube-side consideration is less effective and much more difficult to calculate
because of the stratification of the condensate. Positive tube inclination must be used
✓ Horizontal shell-side condensation is very popular as it is well predictable, permits use of large
surfaces, and the extremely low pressure drop required for vacuum operations can be obtained
by proper unit selection (TEMA X-shell).
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Failure of Condensers
Main Reasons
• The tubes more fouled than expected – a problem not unique to condensers.
• The condensate many not be drained properly, causing the tubes to be flooded. This could
mean the condensate outlet is too small or too high.
• Venting of non-condensable may not be inadequate.
• Flooding limits have been exceeded for condensers with backflow of liquid against upward
vapor flow.
• Excessive fogging may be occurring. This can be a problem when condensing high
molecular weight vapors in the presence of non-condensable gas.
• The condenser was designed on the basis of end temperatures without noticing that the
design duty would involve a temperature cross in the middle of the range.

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 Reference
Sadik Kakac, Hongtan Liu and Anchasa Pramuanjaroenkij, “Heat Exchangers - Selection,
Rating and Thermal Design”, 3rd Edition, CRC Press, 2012

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Thank You

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