CH 3.

STEAM CONDENSERS , COOLING TOWERS &

NOZZLES.
Steam condensers are devices in which the exhaust steam from the steam turbine is
condensed by means of cooling water. Condensation can be done by removing heat from exhaust
steam using circulating cooling water.
During condensation, the working substance (steam) changes its phase from vapour to
liquid and rejects latent heat as shown in Figure. The primary object of a condenser is to
maintain a low pressure on the exhaust side of the rotor of steam turbine. This enables the steam
to expand to a greater extent which results in an increase in available energy for conversation
into mechanical work. The secondary object of condenser is to supply to the boiler pure and hot
feed water, as the condensed steam which is discharged from the condenser and collect in a hot
well can be used over again as feed water for the boiler.
The use of a condenser in a power plant is to improve the efficiency of the power plant by
decreasing the exhaust pressure of the steam below atmospheric pressure. Another advantage of
the condenser is that the steam condensed may be recovered to provide a source of pure feed
water to the boiler and reduce the water softening capacity to a considerable extent.
Advantages of a condenser in a steam power plant
The main advantages of incorporating a steam condenser in a steam power plant are
• It increases the efficiency of the power plant due to increased enthalpy drop.
• It reduces back pressure of the steam which results in more work output.
• It reduces temperature of the exhaust steam which also results in more work output.
• The condensed steam can be reused as feed water for boiler which reduces the cost of
power generation.
• The temperature of the condensate is higher than that of the fresh water which reduces
the heat supplied per Kg of steam produced.
Function of condenser
The main function of condenser is to convert gaseous form of exhaust steam into liquid
form at a pressure of below atmosphere. Cooling medium is used water to convert steam into
water. Others important functions of condensers:
• to create a vacuum by condensing steam
• Remove dissolved non - condensable gases from the condensate.
• Providing a leak tight barrier between the high grade condensate contained within the
shell and the untreated cooling water.
• Providing leak tight barrier against air ingress, preventing excess back pressure on the
turbine. Elements of a steam condensing plant
The main elements of a steam condensing plants are:
• A condenser in which the exhaust steam is condensed • Supply of cooling water for
condensing exhaust steam
• A pump to circulate the cooling water in case of a surface condenser • A pump called
the wet air pump to remove the condensed steam (condensate) the air, and uncondensed water
vapour and gases from the condenser (separate pump may be used to remove air and condensed
steam)
• A hot well where the condensed steam can be discharged and from which the boiler
feed water is taken

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 • An arrangement (cooling pond or cooling tower) for cooling the circulation water when
a surface condenser is used and the supply of water is limited.
Types of condensers
The steam condensers are classified as follows:
1. Jet condensers (mixing type condensers)
a. Parallel flow jet condenser b. Counter flow jet condenser (low level)
c. Barometric or high level jet condenser d. Ejector condenser
2. Surface condensers (non mixing type condensers)
a. Down flow surface condenser b. Central flow surface condenser c.
Regenerative surface condenser d. Evaporative condenser

PARALLEL FLOW JET CONDENSER

In parallel flow jet condenser both the steam and the water enters from the top and flows
in the same direction as shown in Figure 1. The exhaust steam is condensed when it mixes up
with water. The condensate and the cooling water are delivered to the hot well from where
surplus water flows to the cooling pond through an overflow pipe. Sometimes a single pump
know as wet air pump is used to remove both air and the condensate but generally separate air
pump is used to remove air as it gives a great vacuum.
COUNTER FLOW OR LOW LEVEL JET CONDENSER
In counter flow or low level jet condenser, the exhaust steam enters from bottom and
mixes with the down coming cooling water as shown in Figure 2. The air pump mounted at the
top of the condenser shell creates vacuum as it suck air. This draws the supply of cooling water
which falls from a large number of jets through perforated conical plate. The water then falls in
the trays and flows through second series of jets and mixes with the exhaust steam entering at the
bottom. This cause rapid condensation after which the condensate and the cooling water are
delivered to the hot well by the condensate extraction pump.

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BAROMETRIC OR HIGH LEVEL JET CONDENSER
This type of condenser is provided at a high level as shown in Figure 3 having a long tail
pipe. The exhaust steam enters from the bottom and flows upwards. This steam then mixes with
cooling water which falls from the top through various baffles. The vacuum is created by the air
pump placed at the top of the condenser shell. The condensate and the cooling water flows
downwards through a vertical tail pipe to the hot well without the aid of any pump. The surplus
water from the hot well flows to the cooling pond through an overflow pipe.

EJECTOR CONDENSER
In ejector condenser, the steam and water mix-up
while passing through a series of metal cones as
shown in Figure 4. Water enters from the top
through a number of guide cones. The exhaust
steam enters the condenser through a non return
valve. The steam and air then pass through the
hollow truncated cones. After that it passes
through the diverging cone where its kinetic
energy is partly transformed into pressure energy.
The condensate and the cooling water are then
discharged to the hot well. The high exit pressure
in the diverging cone allow discharged of water
automatically into the hot well at atmospheric
pressure.

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Surface condenser In surface condenser, the condensate does not mix up with the cooling water.
So the whole condensate can be reused in the boiler. This type of condenser is used where is only
limited quantity of fresh water is available like ships. A sectional view of a two pass surface
condenser is shown in Figure 5. It consists of a horizontal cylindrical vessel made of cast iron
packed with tubes for cooling water. The cooling water flows in one direction through the lower
half of the tubes and in opposite direction through the upper half. The water tubes are fixed into
vertical perforated type plates at the ends so that leakage of water should not occur into the
central condensing space. The steam enters from top end. The extraction pump at the bottom
sucks the condensate resulting in the downwards flow of steam over the water tubes.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CONDENSERS

JET CONDENSERS The following are the advantages and disadvantages of jet condensers.

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1. Due to more intimate mixing of steam and cooling water it requires less quantity of circulating
water for the condensation of steam.
2. Due to direct mixing it requires less building space.
3. The arrangement of jet condenser is simple in construction and low in cost. Its maintenance
cost is also low.
4. Low-level jet condenser does not require cooling water pump. In barometric and ejector
condensers there is no need of condensate extraction pump.
Disadvantages
1. There is wastage of condensate.
2. If the condensate is to be used as feed water then the cooling water should be pure and free
from any harmful impurities.
3. In the barometric condenser use of long pipe increase the cost of the condenser.
4. In the low-level jet condenser if the condensate extraction pump fails then there is greater
possibility of fl ooding of the engine.
5. In the case of barometric condenser a vacuum loss of about 1 to 1.5 cm of Hg occurs due to
leakage in the long exhaust pipe line.
6. Vacuum more than 66 cm of Hg cannot be achieved. This is because the dissolved air in the
cooling water gets liberated at low pressures.
7. The air extraction pump needs high power which may be about double the power required by a
surface condenser.

SURFACE CONDENSERS
The following are the advantages and disadvantages of surface condensers.
Advantages
1. A high vacuum can be achieved (as much as 73.5 cm of Hg) and thus gives greater plant effi ciency.
2. Since the cooling water and steam do not mix, the condensate is recovered and can be used as
feed water to the boiler. Due to this advantage, these condensers are used in all steam power
plants.
3. Since the cooling water and steam do not mix, any kind of cooling water can be used. This
results in considerable reduction in the cost of water softening plant.
4. The chances of vacuum loss are minimized.
5. It requires much less power to run the air extraction pump and for water pumping.
6. It ideally suits high capacity plants.
7. It requires less quantity of make up water (about 4% to 5%). Disadvantages 1. The system is
bulky and requires large fl oor area. 2. It requires high capital cost and maintenance cost. 3. It
requires more cooling water.

COOLING TOWERS
The COOLING TOWERS are very useful when there is scarcity of both the water and
the land. It is an artificial device by which the hot water coming out of the condenser is cooled
effectively. By using cooling towers the cooling water requirement is reduced and only makeup
water is to be supplied.
The principle of cooling the water is similar to that of the evaporative condenser. Some
water about 1% goes into air in the form of water vapor by absorbing its latent heat of
vaporization from the remaining water and thus causes the reduction in the water temperature.
The cooling towers reduce the cooling water demand about 75 times but it is achieved at the
expense of large capital, land, and operational costs.

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TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS
on the basis of the draught (method of air circulation) are:
(i) Natural draught cooling towers
(ii) Mechanical draught cooling towers:
(a) Forced draught cooling towers, and (b) Induced draught cooling towers.

NATURAL DRAUGHT COOLING TOWERS

The schematic view of natural cooling tower is shown in Figure . The hot water from the
condenser is pumped to a height of about 8 m to 12 m which enters the tower and then sprayed
over the woodwork and trays. The water in the form of sprays meets the air entering from the
bottom of the tower which is open to the atmosphere. Hot water gives up its heat to the air and
gets cooled. The hot air along with some water vapor leaves the tower at top and the cooled
water falls down in the form of rain and gets collected in the pond at the bottom of the tower.
The cooled water from the pond is again supplied to the condenser. No fan is used in natural
draught cooling towers. The bottom of the tower is kept open through which air enters into the
tower. The airflow is maintained due to pressure difference caused by the difference in density
between the hot air inside the tower and the outside atmospheric air. The water vapors leaving
the tower along with the air is prevented by using water eliminators. Still some loss of water will
be there which will be compensated by adding fresh water called make up water. The reduction
in temperature of the water is called range. The disadvantage of this type of tower is that to
produce large natural draught the tower will be very high.

Natural Draught Cooling Tower

MECHANICAL DRAUGHT COOLING TOWERS

In the mechanical draught cooling towers the air is circulated with the help of a
mechanical device like a fan or a blower. Depending on the position of the fan or blower these
are classified as forced draught or induced draught cooling towers. When the fan is installed at
the bottom of the tower it is known as forced draught cooling tower as shown in Figure . When
the fan is installed at the top of the tower it is called induced draught cooling tower as shown in

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Figure 2.40 (b). Hot water coming from the condenser enters the tower from its top and is
sprayed through the nozzles. The sprayed water meets with the air going upwards. Eliminators
are provided at the

Mechanical Draught Cooling Tower

top to prevent the escaping of water droplets with air leaving from the top. Cooling towers are
generally hyperbolic in shape and are made of steel, concrete, or timber. The induced draught
cooling towers are generally used in large capacity power plants. In the case of forced draught
tower power requirement is high and maintenance cost of the fan is high. The induced draught
tower occupies less space as the fan drives are installed at the top of the tower. In the induced
draught tower the air is drawn by the fan from all the sides of the tower through the openings at
low velocity and thus the cooling effect is obtained across the entire cross section of the tower.
Also it handles warm air, so there will be no freezing problems during winter season as in the
case of forced draught cooling towers.

Induced draught cooling tower The difference here is in the supply of air. The drought fans
installed at the top of tower draw air thought the tower. The hot water is allowed to pass thought
the tower bellow the eliminators. The air moving in the upward direction cools the down coming
hot water particles issued from spray nozzles some percentage (1%) of total water goes into air in
the form of water vapour.

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 Steam nozzles.
Introduction
- A nozzle is a device that increases the velocity of a fluid at the expense of pressure.
- A diffuser is a device that increases the pressure of a fluid by slowing it down.
- The chief use of nozzle is to produce a jet of steam (or gas) of high velocity to produce thrust
for the propulsion of rocket motors and jet engines and to drive steam or gas turbines.
- Diffusers are used in compressors, combustion chambers etc.
- The smallest section of the nozzle is known as the throat.
Flow of steam through nozzles: The flow of steam through nozzles may be regarded as
adiabatic expansion. - The steamhas a very high velocity at the end of the expansion, and the
enthalpy decreases as expansion takes place. - Friction exists between the steam and the sides of
the nozzle; heat is produced as the result of the resistance to the flow. - The phenomenon of
super saturation occurs in the flow of steam through nozzles. This is due to the time lag in the
condensation of the steam during the expansion.

Types of nozzles and diffusers

Three types of nozzles: Converging, Diverging, Converging – diverging
Flow of steam through nozzles :
- The flow of steam through nozzles may be regarded as adiabatic expansion.
- The steam has a very high velocity at the end of the expansion, and the enthalpy decreases
as expansion takes place.
- Friction exists between the steam and the sides of the nozzle; heat is produced as the result
of the resistance to the flow.
- The phenomenon of supersaturation occurs in the flow of steam through nozzles. This is
due to the time lag in the condensation of the steam during the expansion.

Types of Nozzles:
1. Convergent Nozzle 2. Divergent Nozzle 3. Convergent-Divergent Nozzle

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The highest velocity to which a fluid can be accelerated in a converging nozzle is limited to
sonic velocity (Mach number, M=1), which occurs at the exit plane (throat) of the nozzle.
Accelerating a fluid to supersonic velocities (M>1) can be accomplished only by attaching a
diverging flow section to the subsonic nozzle at the throat. The resulting combined flow section
is a converging-diverging nozzle.
Forcing a fluid through a converging-diverging nozzle is no guarantee that the fluid will be
accelerated to supersonic velocity. For given inlet conditions, the flow through a converging-
diverging nozzle is governed by the back pressure.

Supersaturated flow or Metastable flow in Nozzles :

As steam expands in the nozzle, its pressure and temperature drop, and it is expected that the
steam start condensing when it strikes the saturation line. But this is not always the case. Owing
to the high velocities, the residence time of the steam in the nozzle is small, and there may not
sufficient time for the necessary heat transfer and the formation of liquid droplets. Consequently,
the condensation of steam is delayed for a little while. This phenomenon is known as
supersaturation, and the steam that exists in the wet region without containing any liquid is
known as supersaturated steam.

The locus of points where condensation will take place regardless of the initial temperature and
pressure at the nozzle entrance is called the Wilson line. The Wilson line lies between 4 and 5
percent moisture curves in the saturation region on the h-s diagram for steam, and is often
approximated by the 4 percent moisture line. The supersaturation phenomenon is shown on the
h-s chart below

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Effects of Supersaturation:

Critical Pressure Ratio: The critical pressure ratio is the pressure ratio which will accelerate
the flow to a velocity equal to the local velocity of sound in the fluid. Critical flow nozzles are also
called sonic chokes. By establishing a shock wave the sonic choke establish a fixed flow rate
unaffected by the differential pressure, any fluctuations or changes in downstream pressure. A sonic
choke may provide a simple way to regulate a gas flow.

The ratio between the critical pressure and the initial pressure for a nozzle can expressed as
pc / p1 = ( 2 / (n + 1) ) n / (n – 1)

where pc = critical pressure (Pa) p1 = inlet pressure (Pa)

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n = index of isentropic expansion or compression – or polytropic constant For a perfect gas
undergoing an adiabatic process the index – n – is the ratio of specific heats – k = cp / cv.
There is no unique value for – n. Values for some common gases are
 Steam where most of the process occurs in the wet region : n = 1.135
 Steam superheated : n = 1.30
 Air : n = 1.4
 Methane : n = 1.31
 Helium : n = 1.667

Effect of Friction on Nozzles:

1) Entropy is increased.
2) Available energy is decreased.
3) Velocity of flow at throat is decreased.
4) Volume of flowing steam is decreased.
5) Throat area necessary to discharge a given mass of steam is increased

Velocity of steam at nozzle exit:

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Mass of steam discharged through a nozzle

Condition for maximum discharge through nozzle: The nozzle is always designed for maximum
discharge

Values for maximum discharge:

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Where P1 is the initial pressure of the steam in kpa and v1 is the specific volume of the steam in
m3/kg at the initial pressure

Nozzle efficiency
Due to friction between the fluid and walls of the nozzle, the expansion process is irreversible,
although still approximately adiabatic. In nozzle design, the usual practice is to base all
calculation on isentropic flow and then to make an allowance for friction using a coefficient or
efficiency.

Nozzle efficiency
The nozzle efficiency, ηn, is defined as the ratio of the actual enthalpy drop to the
isentropic enthalpy drop

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