Air Cooled Condensers - A Dry Cooling Tower

Air-cooled condensers, refer as fin-and-tube condensers works on the principle

of air cooled air conditioning system.
While the evaporator is the component in which heat is absorbed, the condenser
is the point of heat rejection in an air conditioning or refrigeration .
The air-cooled condenser uses air to extract the sensible heat and the latent heat
of condensation released by the refrigerant during condensation.
The refrigerant from the compressor enters the condenser as hot super heated
gas and leaves it (usually) as sub cooled liquid to continue the refrigerant cycle.




An Air Cooled Condenser provides a means of condensing steam without using
cooling water, when a lack of water prevents use of a traditional water cooled
condenser in a steam power plant.
An air cooled condenser is an option for condensing steam if water availability is
limited.
Steam Power Plant Rankine Cycle with Air Cooled Condenser,


Types of Air Cooled Condenser : Natural draft and Mechanical draft.
The most common type of air cooled condenser is the mechanical draft, which
has an overall A-frame configuration.
The low pressure steam exhausted from the turbine goes into the air cooled
condenser in the large tube at the top of the A-frame. The steam flows down through
finned tubes that make up the A-frame and is cooled and condensed by air being blown
past the finned tubes by a fan or fans at the bottom.
A plant with an air cooled condenser uses only about 5% as much water as one
with once through cooling or a wet cooling tower.




Description of Air- Cooled Condensers
Air Cooled Condensers are cooled by condenser fans which blow air across the
condenser coil to promote convective heat transfer.
The fans used commonly are axial flow, propeller fans, which are capable of
moving large volumes of air.
Air-cooled condensers are designed for either draw thru' or blow thru' air flow.

a) With draw thru' design, the face velocity across the coil is more uniform and the coil is
more effectively utilized However, the hot discharge air off the condenser coil flows
over the fan and the drive motor, which have to withstand the hot air temperature.
b) In blow thru' designs, the fan and drive motor have ambient air flowing over them. But
the face velocity across the coil is less uniform than in the draw thru' design.
The heat rejection capacity of an air-cooled condenser is proportional to the
condenser temperature difference , which is defined as the difference in saturated
condensing temperature and the air intake dry bulb temperature.
Enhancement of Air Cooled Condenser Performance
The Air Cooled Condenser though having advantage over water cooled condenser
,but have reduced plant efficiency and output in the hotter part of the year.A technique
being investigated for improving plant efficiency and output in hot weather is inlet spray
cooling, that is, spraying water into the air entering the condenser during the hot part of
the year.
Technical Specification(with reference to McEnergy MONO CU, Air cooled condensing
unit)































Are you ready to have a tour through Air Cooled Condenser,Please click the below link

GEA Dry Cooling - Air Cooled Condenser (ACC)

References:
http://www.geapowercooling.com/opencms/opencms/gpc/en/products/Air_Cooled
_Condensers/
http://www.brighthubengineering.com/power-plants/64903-steam-power-plant-
condenser-cooling-part-three-the-air-cooled-condenser/#imgn_0
http://www.ishrae.in/journals/2001july/article03.html
http://www.mcquay.ru/downloads/pm_mcenergy_mono_cu_en.pdf