UNIT-IV

Classification of Steam Condenser

The steam condenser is classified as
1. Jet condensers or mixing type condenser
2. Surface condenser or non-mixing type condenser

Jet Condenser
Jet condenser is a condenser in which the condensate gets mixed with the cooling water. That’s
why it is also called as mixing type condenser.
This type of condenser is used sometime because it lost some of the condensate and requires high
power for the pump during the process of condensation.
In jet condenser, as the condensate is not free from the salt, so it cannot be used as feed water for
the boiler. It can be used at the place where sufficient amount of good quality water is available.

Types of Jet Condenser

(i) Parallel Flow Jet Condenser
In parallel flow jet condenser, the steam and water enters into the condenser at the top and leaves
at the bottom.
The cooling water and steam enters at the top. As both steam and cooling water mix with each
other, the steam gets condense. The condensate, cooling water and air moves downward and it is
removed by two separate pumps known as air extraction pump and condensate extraction pump.
The condensate pump transfers the condensate to the hot well and from there the extra water is
made to flow in cooling water tank or pond through overflow pipe.

(ii) Counter Flow or Low Level Jet Condenser

In counter Flow or low level jet condensers, the steam enters at the bottom and the cooling water
at the top. The steam flows upward and meets the cooling water coming downward.
In these types of steam Condensers, the air pump is located at the top. Air pump creates vacuum
and this vacuum draws water from the cooling tower. The cooling water enter into the condenser
and falls on the perforated conical plate. The perforated conical plates convert the cooling water
into a large number of jets as shown in the figure. The falling jet of water caught in the trays and
from there it escapes out in second series of jets and meets the exhaust steam entering at the
bottom. As the steam mix with the water, it gets condense. The condensate and cooling water
moves down through a vertical pipe to the condensate pump. And finally the pump delivers it to
the hot well.

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(iii) Barometric or High Level Jet Condenser
Barometric or high level jet condensers are provided at high level with a long vertical discharge
tube or tailpipe. It does not have condensate extraction pump and the condensate and cooling
water flows in the hot well because of the gravity. An injector pump is used to flow cooling
water at the top of the condenser.
These types of jet condensers are used at a high level with a vertical discharge pipe. In this
condenser, the steam enters at the bottom and flows in upward direction and meets with the
down coming cooling water. Its working is similar as the low level jet condenser. The vacuum is
created at the top of the condenser shell. With the help of vacuum and injector pump, the cooling
water is moved to the top of the condenser. The condensate and cooling water comes down in the
hot well through a long vertical discharge pipe. And finally the extra hot water flows to the
cooling tank or cooling pond by an overflow pipe

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(iv) Ejector Condenser

In ejector condensers, it has a non-return valve through which exhaust steam enters, hollow
truncated cones, and diverging cone.

In these condensers, the cooling water is injected at the top. The steam enters into the condenser
through a non-return valve. The steam and water mixes with each other while passing through
series of hollow truncated metal cones and steam changes into water. At the end of the metal
cones a diverging cone is present. When the condensate passes through diverging cone, its
kinetic energy is partly transformed into pressure energy.

The condensate and cooling water is then discharged to the hot well.

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Surface Condensers

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Surface condenser is a type of steam condenser in which the steam and cooling water do not mix
with each other. And because of this, the whole condensate can be used as boiler feed water. It is
also called as non-mixing types condenser.
The figure above shows the longitudinal section of a two pass surface condenser. It consists of a
horizontal cylindrical vessel made of cast iron and packed with tubes. The cooling water flows
through these tubes. The ends of the condensers are cut off by the perforated type plates. The
tubes are fixed into these perforated type plates. It is fixed in such a manner that any leakage of
water into the center of condensing space is prevented. The water tubes are passed horizontally
through the main condensing space. The exhaust steam from the turbine or engine enters at the
top and forced to move downward due to the suction of the air extraction pump. In this steam
condenser, the cooling water enters into boiler through lower half of the tubes in one direction
and returns in opposite direction through the upper half as shown in the figure above.
This type of condenser is used in ships as it can carry only a limited quantity of water for the
boiler. It is also widely used for the land installation where there is a scarcity of good quality of
water.

Types of Surface Condensers

The surface condenser on the basis of direction of flow of condensate, the arrangement of the
tubing system and the position of the extraction pump are classified as

(i) Down Flow

In Down flow surface condenser, the steam enters at the top of the condenser and flows
downwards over the tubes due to the gravity and air extraction pumps. The condensate gets
collected at the bottom and then pumped with the help of condensate extraction pump. The pipe
of dry air extraction pump is provided near the bottom and it is covered by baffle plates so as to
prevent the entry of the condensate into it.
The steam in down flow condenser flows perpendicular to the direction of flow of cooling water,
so it is also called as cross-surface condenser.

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(ii) Central Flow
In central flow condenser, the steam enters at the top of the condenser and flows in downward
direction. In this the suction pipe of the air extraction pump is provided in the center of the tube
nest as shown in the figure. Due to this placement of the suction pipe in the center of the tube
nest, the exhaust steam flows radially inward over the tubes towards the suction pipe. The
condensate is collected at the bottom of the condenser and pumped to the hot well.
We can say that it is the improved form of the down flow surface condenser.

(iii) Regenerative
In regenerative surface condensers, the condensate is heated by the use of regenerative method.
In that the condensate is passed through the exhaust steam coming out from the turbine or
engine. This raises its temperature and it is used as the feed water for the boiler.

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(IV) Evaporative

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 In evaporative surface condensers, the steam enters at the top of the condenser in a series of
pipes over which a film of cold water is falling. At the same time, current of air is made to
circulate over the film of water. As the air circulates over the water film, it evaporates some of
the cooling water. As a result of this rapid evaporation, the steam circulating inside the series of
pipes gets condensed. Remaining cooling water that left is collected at an increased temperature
and reused. It is brought to the original temperature by adding required quantity of cold water.

Advantages of Steam Condenser

▪ It increases the efficiency of the plant.

▪ It reduces the back pressure of the steam and as a result of this, more work can be done.
▪ It reduces the temperature of the exhaust steam and this allows to obtain more work.
▪ It allows the reuse of condensate for the feed water and hence reduces the cost of power
generation
▪ The temperature of the condensate is more than the feed water. This reduces the supply of
heat per kg of steam.
Comparison of Jet and Surface Condenser in Tabular Form

S.no Jet Condenser Surface Condenser

Exhaust steam and cooling water Exhaust steam and cooling water
1. mixed with each other. are not mixed with each other.
It is less suitable for high It is more suitable for high
2. capacity plants. capacity plants.
The condensing plant using this
type of steam condenser is The condensing plant using surface
simple and condenser is costly and
3. economical. complicated.
Condensate is wasted and cannot
4. be reused. The condensate is reused.
Less quantity of circulating Large quantity of circulating water
5. water is required. is required.
6. It has low maintenance cost. It has high maintenance cost.
In jet condenser, more power is In surface condenser, less power is
7. required for the air pump. required for the air pump.
High power is required for water Less power is required for water
8. pumping. pumping.