Chapter one

Condenser
Rankine cycle:

The basic Rankine cycle consists of four main components shown on figure 1.1:

Steam Generator ,Turbine ,Steam Condenser ,Pump

Fig1.1 :basic component of Rankine cycle.

The actual Rankine cycle used in modern power plants has many more
components, but the above four components are common to all power plants. In this
cycle, water is heated in the steam generator to produce high temperature and
pressure steam. This steam is then expanded in a turbine to produce electricity from
a generator that is connected to the turbine. The steam from the turbine is then
condensed back into water in the condenser. The pump then returns the water to
the steam generator.

The functions of the condenser in a steam power plant:

The main purposes of the condenser are to condense the exhaust steam from the
turbine for reuse in the cycle and to maximize turbine efficiency by maintaining
proper vacuum. As the operating pressure of the condenser is lowered (vacuum is
increased), the enthalpy drop of the expanding steam in the turbine will also
increase. This will increase the amount of available work from the turbine .

So, By lowering the condenser operating pressure, the following will occur:

 Increased turbine output

 Increased plant efficiency
 Reduced steam flow (for a given plant output)

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 It is therefore very advantageous to operate the condenser at the lowest possible
pressure (highest vacuum).

CONDENSER TYPES

There are two primary types of condensers that can be used in a power plant:

1. Direct Contact or open condenser.

2. indirect- Surface condenser.

Direct contact condensers condense the turbine exhaust steam by mixing it directly
with cooling water. The older type Barometric and Jet-Type condensers operate on
similar principles.

Steam surface condensers are the most commonly used condensers in modern
power plants. The exhaust steam from the turbine flows on the shell side (under
vacuum) of the condenser, while the plant’s circulating water flows in the tube side.
The source of the circulating water can be either a closed-loop (i.e. cooling tower,
spray pond, etc.) or once through (i.e. from a lake, ocean, or river).

The condensed steam from the turbine, called condensate, is collected in the
bottom of the condenser. The condensate is then pumped back to the steam
generator to repeat the cycle.

The Direct Contact (or open condenser) has many kinds, such as :

a- Multi-Jet (M-J) Barometric Condensers.

b-Multi-Jet Spray Type (M-J-S) Spray Condensers.

a- Multi-Jet (M-J) Barometric Condensers:

OPERATION

Condensing water is delivered into the nozzle case and ejected through the
nozzles. These are carefully designed to handle a specified amount.

The water jets are directed into the tail- piece at the lower end of the body, where
they unite to form a single jet.

Vapors entering the condenser come into direct contact with the converging water
and are Vapor condensed. Non-condensables Inlet are also entrained and discharged
by the water jet action.

Terminal difference obtainable with this type of condenser is 11 to 13°F.

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APPLICATION

The Multi-Jet Condenser is generally employed where low cost water is available in
ample quantity. It is the simplest design of all barometric condensers, and requires
no auxiliary air pump or pre-cooler. It is probably the ideal type where load
conditions are constant and there is little air leakage.

CONSTRUCTION

Multi-Jet Barometric Condensers are made in two basic designs, the Type 590 and
Type 591, as shown in figure1.2 & 1.3:

Fig.1.2 :Multi-Jet (M-J) Barometric Condensers type 590

The Type 590 design is used for all sizes above the smallest four. This design has
the vapor inlet at the top and the water inlet at the side. It consists of a body; water
nozzle case and plate and jet type water nozzles. An inspection cover located directly
opposite the nozzle case permits easy access to the nozzles.

Fig1.3 :Multi-Jet (M-J) Barometric Condensers type 591

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 The Type 591 design is used for the four smallest sizes. It has the water inlet at the
top and the vapor inlet at the side. This unit consists of a body (a closed cylindrical
chamber), and water nozzle housing at the top water inlet; and jet type water
nozzles.

The( indirect) Surface condenser:

Surface condenser is the commonly used term for a water-cooled shell and tube
heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal
power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its
gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling
water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled
condenser is however significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as low a
steam turbine exhaust pressure as a water cooled surface condenser.

Surface condensers are also used in applications and industries other than the
condensing of steam turbine exhaust in power plants. One or two pass condensers
with straight tubes or U tubes are selected depending on the application and the
customers specification.

CONDENSER THEORY

The operation of any condenser is described by a simple heat balance. The heat
added up to the system is the quantity of steam being condensed, expressed in
pounds per hours, multiplied by the latent heat of vaporization expressed in BTU per
pound. This must be equal to the heat removed by the condensing water which is
the quantity of water expressed in pounds per hour multiplied by the temperature
rise from inlet to outlet times the specific heat (which is 1.0 in the case of water).

THE FORMULA for determining the amount of surface required in a surface condenser is as
follows:

Q = UA (LMTD)

where

Q = Heat to be absorbed, Btuh = pounds per hour of steam times 950 Btu per pound;

U = Overall heat transfer rate, Btu per (hr) (sq ft) (F);

A = Surface required, sq ft;

LMTD = Loge mean temperature difference between condensing temperature and cooling
water.
2
U=C 1 C 2 C 3 C 4 √ γ

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OPERATION

The main heat transfer mechanisms in a surface condenser are the condensing of
saturated steam on the outside of the tubes and the heating of the circulating water
inside the tubes. Thus for a given circulating water flow rate, the water inlet
temperature to the condenser determines the operating pressure of the condenser.
As this temperature is decreased, the condenser pressure will also decrease. As
described above, this decrease in the pressure will increase the plant output and
efficiency.

CONSTRUCTION

Steam surface condensers can be broadly categorized by the orientation of the

steam turbine exhaust to the condenser.

Most common are side and down exhaust. In a side exhaust condenser, the
condenser and turbine are installed adjacent to each other, and the steam from the
turbine enters from the side of the condenser. In a down exhaust condenser, the
steam from the turbine enters from the top of the condenser and the turbine is
mounted on a foundation above the condense as shown in figure 1.5.

Fig1.4: water-cooled surface condenser

Shell

The shell is the condenser's outermost body and contains the heat exchanger
tubes. The shell is fabricated from carbon steel plates and is stiffened as needed to
provide rigidity for the shell. When required by the selected design, intermediate
plates are installed to serve as baffle plates that provide the desired flow path of the
condensing steam. The plates also provide support that help prevent sagging of long
tube lengths.

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 At the bottom of the shell, where the condensate collects, an outlet is installed. In
some designs, a sump (often referred to as the hotwell) is provided. Condensate is
pumped from the outlet or the hotwell for reuse as boiler feedwater.

For most water-cooled surface condensers, the shell is under vacuum during
normal operating conditions.

Vacuum system

For water-cooled surface condensers, the shell's internal vacuum is most

commonly supplied by and maintained by an external steam jet ejector system. Such
an ejector system uses steam as the motive fluid to remove any non-condensible
gases that may be present in the surface condenser. The Venturi effect, which is a
particular case of Bernoulli's principle, applies to the operation of steam jet ejectors.

Tube sheets

At each end of the shell, a sheet of sufficient thickness usually made of stainless
steel is provided, with holes for the tubes to be inserted and rolled. The inlet end of
each tube is also bellmouthed for streamlined entry of water. This is to avoid eddies
at the inlet of each tube giving rise to erosion, and to reduce flow friction. Some
makers also recommend plastic inserts at the entry of tubes to avoid eddies eroding
the inlet end. In smaller units some manufacturers use ferrules to seal the tube ends
instead of rolling. To take care of length wise expansion of tubes some designs have
expansion joint between the shell and the tube sheet allowing the latter to move
longitudinally. In smaller units some sag is given to the tubes to take care of tube
expansion with both end water boxes fixed rigidly to the shell.

Tubes

Generally the tubes are made of stainless steel, copper alloys such as brass or
bronze, cupro nickel, or titanium depending on several selection criteria. The use of
copper bearing alloys such as brass or cupro nickel is rare in new plants, due to
environmental concerns of toxic copper alloys. Also depending on the steam cycle
water treatment for the boiler, it may be desirable to avoid tube materials
containing copper. Titanium condenser tubes are usually the best technical choice,
however the use of titanium condenser tubes has been virtually eliminated by the
sharp increases in the costs for this material. The tube lengths range to about 55 ft
(17 m) for modern power plants, depending on the size of the condenser. The size
chosen is based on transportability from the manufacturers’ site and ease of erection
at the installation site. The outer diameter of condenser tubes typically ranges from
3/4 inch to 1-1/4 inch, based on condenser cooling water friction considerations and
overall condenser size

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Waterboxes

The tube sheet at each end with tube ends rolled, for each end of the condenser is
closed by a fabricated box cover known as a waterbox, with flanged connection to
the tube sheet or condenser shell. The waterbox is usually provided with man holes
on hinged covers to allow inspection and cleaning.

These waterboxes on inlet side will also have flanged connections for cooling water
inlet butterfly valves, small vent pipe with hand valve for air venting at higher level,
and hand operated drain valve at bottom to drain the waterbox for maintenance.
Similarly on the outlet waterbox the cooling water connection will have large flanges,
butterfly valves, vent connection also at higher level and drain connections at lower
level. Similarly thermometer pockets are located at inlet and outlet pipes for local
measurements of cooling water temperature.

In smaller units, some manufacturers make the condenser shell as well as

waterboxes of cast iron.

Fig1.5: typical power plant condenser

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 Chapter Two

Application:

Saturated process steam at 1 atm is condensed in a shell- and – tube heat

exchanger (one shell, two tube passes ). Cooling water enters the tube at 15 C
with an average velocity of 3.5 m/s . The tube are thin – walled and made of
copper with a diameter of 14 mm and length of 0.5 m . The convective heat
transfer coefficient for condensation on the outer surface of the tubes is 21,800
W/m 2 . K .

(a)Find the number of tubes/pass required to condense 2.3 Kg/s of steam.

(b)Find the outlet water temperature.

(c) Find the maximum possible condensation rate that could be achieved with
this heat exchanger using the same water flow rate and inlet temperature.

(d) Using the heat transfer surface area found in part (a), plot the water outlet
temperature and steam condensation rate for water mean velocities in the range
from 1 to 5 m/s . Assume that the shell – side convection coefficient remains
unchanged .

Solution:

KNOWN: Shell(1)-and-tube (two passes, p = 2) heat exchanger for condensing

saturated steam at 1 atm.
Inlet cooling water temperature and mean velocity. Thin-walled tube diameter and
length prescribed, as
well as, convective heat transfer coefficient on outer tube surface, ho.

SCHEMATIC:

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ASSUMPTIONS:
(1) Negligible heat loss to surroundings.
(2) Negligible kinetic and potential energy changes.
(3) Negligible thermal resistance due to the tube walls.

PROPERTIES:
Table (A.6) , Saturated steam (1 atm) : T sat = 100C, h fg= 2257 kJ/kg;
Water (assume: T c ,o 25C , T́ m = (T h + T c) / 2 295 K):  = 1/V f = 998 kg/m3,
C c= C p ,h= 4181 J/kgK, μ= μ f = 959 10−6 Ns/m 2,
k = k f = 0.606 W/mK, pr = pr " = 6.62.

ANALYSIS:
(a) The heat transfer rate for the heat exchanger is
qṁ h h fg2.3×2257×103  5.191×106 W (1)

Using the -NTU method, evaluate the following parameters:

Water-side heat transfer coefficient:
UmD 3.5× 0 .014
ℜD =
μ = 959 ×10−6 998 =¿ 50,993
❑
(2)

1
K K
hi = N u D = 0.023 ℜ0.8 3
D Pr =¿

D D
0.606
¿ ×¿0.8 ¿1 /3 W/m 2K
0.014

using the Colburn equation for fully developed turbulent conditions.

Overall coefficient:

U1/ hi 1/ h o ¿ 1/ 10,9061/ 21,800¿−17269W /m2K

−1
(4)

2
Effectiveness relations: With Cmin = Cc and ṁc = (D /4 ¿u m N ,
q=q max Cmin T h ,iT c ,i

2
C min =ṁ c C c998 ( × 0.014 ) × 3.5 × 4181  2248 N (6)
4
5.191 × 106 W2248 100 - 15
N=27.17 (7)

From Eq. 11.36a with Cr = 0, the effectiveness is

 1expNTU1exp0.1420.132 (8)

where, using As = DLNP, NTU is evaluated as,

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 U A s 7269× ( ×0 .014 × 0.5 ) × 2
NTU = = =¿0.142
C min 2248

Hence, using Eq. (7), the required number of tubes is

N = 27.17/ = 205.8 206

and the total surface area is

AsDLNP× 0.014×0.5×206×2  9.06 m 2 .

(b) The water outlet temperature with Cmin = 2248 N = 463,090 W/K,
T c ,oT c ,i q ¿ C min 15 C 5.191×10 6W /463,090W /K 26.1 C

(c) The maximum condensation rate will occur when q = qmax. Hence

qmax Cmin (T h ,i−T c ,i ) 463,090 (100−15)

m h˙,max = = = =17.44 kg /s
h fg hfg 2257 ×103

(d) Using the IHT Heat Exchanger Tool, All Exchangers, Cr = 0, along with the Properties
Tool for Water, the foregoing analysis was performed to obtain T h ,o and ṁ h using the heat
transfer surface area A s
= 9.06 m 2 (part a) as a function of um .

Note that the condensation rate increases nearly linearly with the water mean velocity. The
cold water outlet temperature decreases nearly linearly with u m. We should expect this
behavior from energy balance considerations. Since h his nearly two times greater thanh c , Ú
is controlled by the water side coefficient. Hence Ú will increase with increasingum .

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