Pages 20

Function Of Condenser
Mechanical Engineering , AC

Outdoor Condenser Unit

 Condenser

Learning objectives

•Learn what is the Condenser

•Functions Of Condenser
•Hear Rejection Ratio and Factors
•Learn about the types of Condenser and Advantages & Disadvantages
• Comparison
1. Introduction to condenser

A condenser (or AC condenser) is the outdoor portion of an air conditioner or heat pump that either releases or collects heat, depending on the time of the year.

Both split air conditioner and heat pump condensers are made of the same basic parts. The condenser cabinet contains the condenser coil, a compressor, a fan, and
various controls. The condenser coil can be made of copper tubing with aluminum fins or all-aluminum tubing so heat can be rapidly transferred.

The condenser fan is a vital component and circulates the air across the coil to facilitate heat transfer. The compressor is the heart of the system since it compresses the
refrigerant and pumps it to a coil in the form of a hot gas.

In air conditioners, the refrigerant is cooled at the condenser into a warm liquid, and passes through a pipe into the evaporator coil where it expands and cools. In heat
pumps, the hot gas is pumped directly to the evaporator coil to provide heat

2. Functions of condenser

The function of the condenser in a refrigeration system is to transfer heat from the refrigerant
to another medium, such as air and/or water. By rejecting heat, the gaseous refrigerant
condenses to liquid inside the condenser.

The major types of condensers used

(1) water-cooled,
(2) air-cooled
(3) evaporative.

In evaporative condensers, both air and water are used.

Three common types of water-cooled condensers are

(1) double pipe,
(2) shell and tube
(3) shell and coil.
2. Heat Rejection Ratio HRR

Introduction:
The heat rejection ratio (HRR) is the ratio of heat rejected to the heat absorbed (refrigeration capacity).
THE LOADING ON THE CONDENSOR/UNIT OF RFRIGERATION IS CALLED THE HEAT REJECTION RATIO or Heat Rejection Factor.
 
HRR = Heat gainedb y the gasi n theCondenser
Heat absorbed by the refrigerating the Evaporator

Factors:

 Evaporator Temperature ,
 Condenser Temperature
 Compressor Work

• For a fixed condenser temperature, as the evaporator temperature decreases the COP decreases and heat rejection
ratio increases.
• For fixed evaporator temperature as the condenser temperature increases the COP decreases hence the heat
rejection ratio increases.
 
• At a given evaporator and condenser temperatures, the HRR of refrigeration systems using hermetic compressors is
higher than that of open compressor systems
3. Main types of condenser

The condensers are classified on the basis of the

cooling medium used
1. Air-Cooled Condenser
2. Water cooled condenser
3. Evaporative condensers

AIR COOLED CONDENSER

 In air cooled condensers, heat is removed by air using either natural or forced circulation.
 The condensers are made of steel, copper or aluminum tubing provided with fins to improve
air-side heat transfer.
 The refrigerant flows inside the tubes and the air outside.
 Air cooled condensers are used only in small capacity machines such as Refrigerators & small
water coolers Window type A/C
 This type are seldom made in sizes over 5 TR because of high head pressure, excessive power
consumption & objectionable fan noise
 The circulation of air may be natural or forced convection.
 The area required for natural convection is considerably large compared with
forced convection type. Due to its low value of U.
 Natural convection type are used for small capacity purpose like domestic
refrigerators, water coolers and Room A/C.
 In the case of forced convection, the air is used though the condenser by the
Blower.
 Forced convection type further divided into
1. Chassis mounted type
2. Remote air cooled type
Advantages Of Air-Cooled Condensers

1. Simplicity of construction.

2. No handling problems.

3. Piping arrangement for carrying the air is not required.

4. There is no problem of disposal of used air.

5. Fouling effects are very less compared with water.

6. Installation and maintenance costs are considerably less

7. High flexibility.
WATER COOLED CONDENSERS
Three types:
1. Shell & Tube
2. 2. Shell & coil
3. 3. Double tube.

• The shell & tube type, with water flowing through passes inside tubes and the
refrigerant condensing in shell is the most commonly used Condenser.
• The Shell is made of Steel.
• Copper tubes are used for Fluro carbons and Steel tubes for ammonia.
Advantages of water cooling Condenser

1. Quiet operation
2. Energy efficient
3. Long-lasting performance (with proper maintenance)
4. Higher rate of heat transfer
5. Quick and hassle-free installation
6. Shorter cooling time
7. Operates at low condensing temperature
8. Does not require external power
9. Reduced operational costs
10.Thermal energy recovery for use in other heating processes
11.Can be used for large capacity plants
12.Smaller in size
13.Can be housed indoors
EVAPORATIVE CONDENSER

• Evaporative condensers are commonly used on large ammonia plants as they are found to be
cheaper.
• Such condensers are require a large amount of the refrigerant charge due to the longer
length of the refrigerant piping.
• But in the case of ammonia systems this is immaterial since the refrigerant is quite cheap.
• In this, refrigerant first rejects its heat to water and then water rejects its heat to air, mainly in
the form of evaporated water.
• Air leave with high humidity as in a cooling tower.
• Thus an evaporative condenser combines the functions of a condenser and cooling tower.
EVAPORATIVE CONDENSER
4. Comparison of Condensers

A condenser in simple terms is a cooling device. Every refrigeration system and power plant use
condensers to condense refrigerant vapors or steam and is known as a heat rejector. Basically if
we consider about the condensing process, it turns superheated and highly-pressurized vapor into
a subcooled liquid. Now we can discuss that, What exactly a condenser is & what the process is...
Now if we consider this point, Three different phases happen in every condenser. The first phase is
called the de-superheating. The vapor entering into the condenser is already superheated and
super pressurized in the evaporator and compressor. The next level is changing or condensation
state; losing more heat continues in this state where we reach into 10% of refrigerant as vapor
and 90% as a liquid. The third and last phase is a sub-cooling state. Now we can consider about
the types of condensers step by step.
1.Air cooled 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. We can
subcategorized this into two subsets: 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. In this case, 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. forced convectio Next 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.
Water cooled- This type of condenser uses water as fluid to remove heat from the refrigerant. We
can divide into 3 categories. 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.
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. Shell and Tube Condensers This 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.
These condensers are generally low in cost and easy to maintain. The most common type of shell
and tube condensers is the horizontal shell type
Evaporative Condensers- The last type is the evaporative one. it is actually the mix of an
air-cooled and water-cooled condenser. Evaporative condensers use air and water as the
condensing medium. The condenser’s sump 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. If we consider about a brief comparison of each of these types,
Evaporatives are often cheaper compared to water-cooled requiring a cooling tower.
Evaporatives are used in places where we usually encounter a water supply shortage.
Evaporatives are kept outside, so in cold seasons, the water pump is switched off so as to
prevent freezing water. Air-cooled condensers compared to water-cooled ones are simple
in construction. Besides, access to air is always available. The maintenance cost of an air-
cooled is low in comparison with a water-cooled. Moreover, water-cooled types of
condensers are more complex than air-cooled condensers as there are design
considerations in water flow regulation and corrosion prevention. However, the
advantages of water-cooled systems are that water has a higher exchange coefficient than
air so heat transfer will be more efficient.
 Air Cooled condenser Water cooled condenser Evaporative Condenser

Air cooled condensers are simple in operation. Water cooled condensers have a high rate of heat transfer Evaporative condensers are a little more expensive than other coolants
such as dry coolers since they are usually used in systems that have a
high outdoor temperature.

They are smaller in size. The energetic efficiency of these units is among their main advantages as
Overall operation is less expensive.
well

Cleaning process is easy. they use less fan horsepower to run compared to air-cooled design, they
Water cooled condensers are used for large capacity plants.
can reduce the energy costs significantly

Installation cost is comparatively less.

Thank You !
It produces less noise.
Easy installation and maintenance

The size of the compressor is less.

Required maintenance of air cooled condensers is low Water cooled condensers can operate at low condensing
temperature.

Design of air cooled condensers are less complex.

¨

This type of condensers is more flexible to use.

 Air Cooled condenser Water cooled condenser Evaporative Condenser

Air cooled condensers required more Installation cost is more.

power to run. It required more maintenance.

It is not suitable for long duration Operating the water-cooled condenser is

period. not easy.

The cooling effect is not so high It is not so flexible to use everywhere.

It does not supply the required cooling It required an additional recirculation

in a short time. system for used water

Water cooled condenser parts undergo

to corrosion effect.
Thank you!