COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
CHE 324 - SEPARATION PROCESS
CONDENSER AND BOILER
Presented by:
Rodrigo C. Baiño, Jr.
Faculty, Chemical Engineering Department
CONDENSER
CONDENSER
• Condenser is a device in which steam is condensed to water at a pressure less than
atmosphere.
• It is used to liquefy vapors by removing their latent heat
• The latent heat is removed by absorbing it in a cooler liquid called coolant
• In rule of thumb or heuristics, the exhaust pressure in the condenser is maintained nearly
7 to 8 kPa which corresponds to condensate temperature of nearly 313K.
FUNCTIONS OF CONDENSER
• To reduce the turbine exhaust pressure so as to increase the specific output and hence
increase the plant efficiency and decrease the specific steam consumption
• To condense the exhaust steam from the turbine and reuse it as pure feed water in the
boiler. Thus, only make up water is required to compensate loss of water
• Enables removal of air and other condensable gases from steam. Hence improved the heat
transfer
ADVANTAGES OF CONDENSER
• It increase the work output per kg of steam supplied to the power plant.
• It also reduces the specific steam consumption, therefore reduces the size of power plant
of given capacity
• It improves the thermal efficiency of the power plant.
• It affect the saving in cost of water to be supplied to the boiler since the condensate is
returned to the boiler
• Cost of water softening plant is also reduced since pure feed water is available for the
boiler.
THREE MAIN
TYPES OF
CONDENSER
• Air – Cooled Condenser
• Water - Cooled Condenser
• Evaporative Condenser
AIR COOLED CONDENSER
• Condensers of this type use air as the
external fluid to reject the heat from the
system. Air-cooled condensers usually
have copper coils where refrigerant flows
in. But this is not the whole story; this
type is subcategorized into two subsets:
natural convection and forced convection
AIR COOLED CONDENSER
1. Natural Convection
• In this type of condenser, air comes to contact with warm coils, absorbing the heat of
refrigerant inside the coils, consequently the temperature of air increases. As the warm air is
lighter, it goes up and the cold air replaces and again the cold air comes to touch warm coils to
reject the heat.This natural cycle continues until the refrigerant loses its heat.
• Since the flow rate of air is small and the radiation heat transfer is also not very high, the
combined heat transfer coefficient in these condensers is small. As a result, a relatively large
condensing surface is required to reject a given amount of heat. Hence these types of
condensers are used for small capacity refrigeration systems like household refrigerators and
freezers.
AIR COOLED CONDENSER
2. Forced Convection
• One of the other types of condensers is forced-convection. A fan or a blower does play
the most crucial role in removing heat from the refrigerant inside the coils. The fan blows
the air into the finned coils. An important tip has to be noted here and it is that the fins of
forced convection condenser are put tightly next to each other; so, if the dust and dirt fill
the slight space between the fins, the air flowing and heat rejection faces big trouble.
• Forced convection type condensers are commonly used in window air conditioners, water
coolers, and packaged air conditioning plants.
WATER
COOLED
CONDENSER
• As it can be guessed, this type
of condenser uses water as
fluid to remove heat from the
refrigerant. It is obvious that
water-cooled condensers are
used where we have an
adequate supply of water. This
type, itself has three different
kinds: double tube, shell and
coil condenser, & shell and tube
condenser
WATER COOLED CONDENSER
1. Double Tube
• Double tube condensers have a tube of water inside a large refrigerant tube. The water
absorbs most of the refrigerant heat, but as the refrigerant tube is in contact with the
natural circulation of air, part of the cooling process is on natural convection. Although
double-tube condensers commonly have been used in the past, the large number of
gaskets and flanges used in these heat exchangers leads to maintenance problems.
WATER COOLED CONDENSER
2. Shell and Coil Condensers
• In a shell-and-coil condenser, a welded shell contains a coil of finned water tubing. In this
type of water-cooled condenser, the hot refrigerant flows in the shell while the cooling
water circulates inside the coils and condenses the refrigerant. It is generally most
compact and low in cost.
WATER COOLED CONDENSER
3. Shell and Tube Condensers
• One of the types of condensers performs the process of rejecting heat by having a
cylindrical shell consisting of water tubes. In a shell and tube condenser, water is pumped
through the pipes while refrigerant flows in the shell. Installations of fins in pipes allows
better heat transfer. The shell-and-tube condensers are generally low in cost and easy to
maintain.
• The most common type of shell and tube condensers is the horizontal shell type.
However, vertical shell and tube condensers are usually used with ammonia in large
capacity systems so that cleaning of the tubes is possible from the top while the plant is
running
EVAPORATIVE
CONDENSER
• The last one of the types of
condensers is the evaporative
condenser.
• It is the mix of an air-cooled
and water-cooled condenser.
Evaporative condensers use air
and water as the condensing
medium.
EVAPORATIVE CONDENSER
• The condenser’s pumps the water to be sprayed over coils and simultaneously, a fan blows the
air into the condenser. The sprayed water over coils evaporates and the required heat for the
vaporizing water is taken from the heat of refrigerant. Some amount of water will be circulated
by dropping into the sump but to make up the amount evaporated, an additional amount of
water is added to the water supply of the sump.
• Evaporative condensers are used in places where water is scarce. Since water is used in a
closed-loop, only a small part of the water evaporates. Make-up water is supplied to take care
of the evaporative loss. The water consumption is typically very low, about 5 percent of the
equivalent water-cooled condenser with a cooling tower. However, since the condenser has to
be kept outside, this type of condenser requires a longer length of refrigerant tubing, which
calls for larger refrigerant inventory and higher pressure drops
BOILERS
BOILER (VAPORIZER)
• A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other liquid is heated, steam or vapor is
generated, steam is super-heated, or any combination thereof, under pressure or vacuum,
for use external to itself, by the direct application of energy from the combustion of fuels,
from electricity or nuclear energy.
• A heater heats things beside water such as air, NH3, O2, etc for a process.
• A vaporizer heats a substance, usually under vacuum to a contaminants vapor to be used
or discarded. Such as drying a ‘wet’ NH3NO3 (also said to be a concentrator)
FUNCTIONS OF A BOILER
• The function of a boiler is to either produce hot water or steam. Hot water boilers heat
water for the purpose of domestic or commercial heating and hot water supply.
• Industrial boiler systems are often made by welding together thick steel plates, allowing
extremely high pressures to be made.
• It has to be made incredibly strong to cope with the high pressure, as failure to do so will
result in forces close to an exploding bomb.
• Steam boilers generate steam in order to power turbines for power generation and
various other industrial heating applications.
SELECTION OF BOILER
• The working pressure & quality of steam
• Steam generation
• Floor area available
• Accessibility for repair & inspection
• Comparative initial cost
• The fuel & water available
• Operating & maintenance cost
CLASSIFICATION OF BOILERS
The boiler may be classified as:
• Horizontal, vertical, or inclined
• Fire tube & Water Tube
• Externally Fired & Internally Fired
• Forced Circulation & Internally Fired
• High pressure & Low Pressure
• Forced Circulation & Natural Circulation
• Stationary & Portable
• Single Tube & Multi-tube Boilers
HORIZONTAL BOILER
• Horizontal fire tube boilers are those where the
combustion products are sent through the tubes as
well as the water surrounding them.
• Horizontal water tube boilers are those where the
combustion products surround the tubes through
which the water flows
HIGH PRESSURE AND LOW PRESSURE
BOILERS
High Pressure Boiler Low Pressure Boiler
• In high pressure boilers, steam pressure is above 15 psi. • In low pressure boilers, steam pressure never goes beyond
15 psi.
• Hot water pressure always go beyond 260 psi
• Water pressure never go beyond 260 psi
• Temperature in high pressure boiler will always be greater
than 250C. • Temperature in low pressure boiler will never be greater
than 250C.
• For the safety due to high working pressures, these boilers
are required to be checked all the time. • Since these boilers work on low working pressure, they
don’t need continuous check.
• Applications involve production of steam in power plant
and in industries • These are used for water heating and steam which is used
to heat rooms.
• In high pressure boilers for similar size, the output is
relatively high. • In low pressure boilers for similar size, the output is
relatively less.
• It requires high maintenance
• It requires low maintenance
• The operating costs are comparatively high
• The operating costs are comparatively low.
FORCED AND NATURAL CIRCULATION
BOILERS
Forced Circulation
• A forced circulation boiler is a boiler
where a pump is used to circulate water
inside the boiler
• Natural Circulation
• A natural circulation boiler which relies
on current density to circulate water
inside the boiler.
REFERENCES
• Linquip Technews, "An Applicable Introduction to different types of Condensers," Linquip Technews, 13 July
2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.linquip.com/blog/different-types-of-condensers/. [Accessed 3 March
2022].
• W. L. McCabe, J. C. Smith and P. Harriott, Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, New York: Mc Graw-Hill,
2006.
• J. J. Santoleri, "Hazardous Waste Incineration," in Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology , Elsevier, 2003,
pp. 223-244.
• Thermodyne Engineering System, "What is Boiler? Boiler Components & Application of Boiler System,"
Thermodyne Engineering System, [Online]. Available: https://www.thermodyneboilers.com/what-is-boiler/.
[Accessed 3 March 2022].
• Realpars, "WHAT IS A BOILER AND HOW DOES IT WORK?," Realpars B.V., [Online]. Available:
https://realpars.com/boiler/#:~:text=The%20function%20of%20a%20boiler,various%20other%20industrial%2
0heating%20applications.. [Accessed 3 March 2022].
REFERENCES
• Applied Technologies Inc., "Turning Up the Flame on the Different Types of Horizontal
Boilers," Applied Technologies of New York Inc., 20 January 2017. [Online]. Available:
https://atiofny.com/turning-up-the-flame-on-the-different-types-of-horizontal-boilers/.
[Accessed 3 March 2022].
• Aesteiron Steels LLP, "Constructional Difference Between Low Pressure And High
Pressure Boiler," Aesteiron Steels LLP, [Online]. Available:
https://www.aesteiron.com/blog/constructional-difference-between-low-and-high-
pressure-boiler.html. [Accessed 3 March 2022].
