condenser

Our group members

Bilawal Shamir 2010-me-15Usman Zubair 2010-me-29Nadim Waris 2010-me-30Zeshan Ahmed 2010-me-26

Condenser

An apparatus or container for condensing

vapours.

System involving Heat transfer

In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is

a device or unit used to condense a substance

from its gaseous to its liquid state, typically by

cooling it.

Condenser in A/C

The condenser discharges the heat picked up by the "Freon" to the

atmosphere. It also converts the "Freon" from a high pressure gas to a

high pressure liquid. The high pressure liquid "Freon" then travels

through the A/C line to the expansion valve or fixed orifice tube. This

device only allows a small amount of "Freon" to pass and thereby

become a low pressure gas.

Cont…..

After passing through the expansion valve, the "Freon" enters the

evaporator and picks up heat from the passenger compartment. This

is done by the blower motor pushing cabin air through the evaporator.

As the air passes through the fins of the evaporator, it is cooled and

returned to the passenger cabin. Meanwhile, the low pressure gas

"Freon" is sent from the evaporator to the A/C compressor. The

compressor "squishes" it into a high pressure gas and sends it to the

condenser.

Condensation process

When saturated vapour comes in contact

with a surface having a temperature below

the saturation temperature, condensation

occurs.

There are two types of condensation:

1. Film-wise condensation: condensed liquid

wets the surface and forms a film covering

the entire surface.

Cont…..

1. Drop-wise condensation: surface is not totally

wetted by the saturated vapour, and the

condensate forms liquid droplets that fall from

the surface.

Types of condenserBased on the cooling medium used, condensers used in

refrigeration systems can be classified into the following three

categories:

1. Water-cooled condensers

• Double-tube condenser

• Shell-and-tube condenser

2. Air-cooled condensers

3. Evaporative condensers

The choice of water-cooled condenser depends on

the following factors:

1. Quality and availability of water

2. Space requirements

3. Water treatment costs

4. Noise

5. Advantages of water cooled-condensers are:

6. Easy to operate

7. Requires less surface area

8. Low energy requirement for the compressor.

Advantages of water cooled-condensers

• Easy to operate

• Requires less surface area

• Low energy requirement for the compressor.

Characteristics of Air-cooled Condenser

• Compact, easy and economical to install.

• Flexibility in changing capacity by varying air flow.

• Hot air may be disposed of easily.

• Easy to clean fin and tube surface by blowing air.

Cont….

• Required less maintenance.

• Higher power requirement per ton of refrigeration

• On days when maximum cooling is needed, the least is

available.