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Condensers: Integral Condensation

Condensers change vapor phase to liquid phase by cooling vapor below its dew point. Condensers must be divided into zones for desuperheating, condensation, and subcooling. Condensation can occur through either integral or differential condensation. Integral condensation maintains vapor-liquid equilibrium while differential lowers the dew point as lower-boiling components condense first. Proper condenser design requires sufficient heat transfer area and controlled pressure drops on both sides. Design outputs include shell and tube specifications that are selected using a TEMA classification system.

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193 views3 pages

Condensers: Integral Condensation

Condensers change vapor phase to liquid phase by cooling vapor below its dew point. Condensers must be divided into zones for desuperheating, condensation, and subcooling. Condensation can occur through either integral or differential condensation. Integral condensation maintains vapor-liquid equilibrium while differential lowers the dew point as lower-boiling components condense first. Proper condenser design requires sufficient heat transfer area and controlled pressure drops on both sides. Design outputs include shell and tube specifications that are selected using a TEMA classification system.

Uploaded by

sandeep lal
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Condensers

Condensers are used in chemical industry to change the phase from Vapor to Liquid. This means that the
vapor has to be cooled to below its dew point.

To design condensers we need to divide the condenser to zones. Condenser can have:

1. Desuperheat
2. Condensation
3. Subcooling

The condenser needs to be divided into zones since the heat transfer coefficient in each of the zones is
different. Lets look at the condensation zone, since the desuperheat and subcooling are single phase
operations, and have been dealt with in many courses in chemical engineering. For the condensing
stream the condensation can be integral or differential condensation.

Integral condensation
Integral condensation happens when the vapor and liquid are close enough to maintain equilibrium. The
condensate formed during the condensation process is carried along with the vapor to the outlet. In a
vertical in-tube condensation the liquid formed by condensation flows along with the vapor.

Differential condensation
In differential condensation the liquid condensate in not in contact with the vapor. This has a effect of
lowering the dew point of the remaining vapor as the components which are low boiler condense first.
This phenomenon happens in a knockback reflux condenser where the liquid condensate drains due to
gravity while the vapor rises to the outlet.

Condensation in the shell is between a true integral or differential condensation.

Design of condensers need to address the following:

1. Sufficient area is available to do the heat transfer


2. Pressure drops (shell side as well as tube side) are within allowable limits

The selection involves selecting a TEMA shell and tube type. TEMA classification of shell types:
Inputs required
Fluid flow rates, Temperatures (In/Out), Pressures, allowable pressure drops, Fouling resistance.

Output
The output of the design produces

1. Shell side
a. Type Shell diameter
b. Baffle spacing
c. Number of baffles
d. Pass layout
2. Tube side
a. Tube diameter
b. Tube length
c. Number of tubes
d. Tube pitch and pattern

Design
De-superheating
Temperature dz

Sub-cooling Condensing

dQ

Coolant

Heat Curve

For any small segment, dZ the heat transferred dQ is

dQ = U.dA.(Tcondensing – Tcoolant)

If we divide the condenser into n Segments, dA = A/N. The numerical algorithm


starts from one end and solve the heat balance in a marching fashion to the other
end.

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