Download - 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.