STUDY OF CONDENSER

PERFORMANCE
EVALUATION AND
MEASURES TO IMPROVE IT
FUNCTIONS OF CONDENSER:
 To provide lowest economic heat rejection
temperature for the steam. Thus saving on
steam required per unit of electricity.
 To convert exhaust steam to water for reuse
thus saving on feed water requirement.
 De aeration of make up water introduced in the
condenser.
 To form a convenient point for introducing
make up water.
TYPE OF CONDENSER:

 Direct or jet condenser

 Indirect or Surface condenser
JET CONDENSER:
 In a jet condenser water is
sprayed over the steam ,then
steam and water gets mixed
together.
 Steam releases it latent heat and
gets converted in to water.
 Water used should be
demineralised water.
 Its limitation is that it cannot be
used in plant where cooling
water requirement is more.
SURFACE CONDENSER:
 In a surface condenser water flows through the tube
nest and steam flows over the nest.
 Heat of steam is transferred to the cooling water and
it gets converted in to water.
CONSTRUCTION:

Main components of a condenser

• Condenser shell

• Tube plates

• Water tubes

• Water box

• Tube sealing

• Support springs
 Condenser shell
In a shell, the inspection doors & windows
are made for routine checking. The main shell
is fabricated of mild steel plate in sections
which are joined together for final assembly at
site by welding
 Tube plates
Main function of tube plates is to
avoid vibrations of tubes during all operating
conditions including HP/LP bypass operations.
Two end plates & six supporting plates are
located inside the lower body of the condenser.
 Water tubes
The tube bundle is the most critical part of
the condensers at least as far as plant
performance is concerned. The primary
purpose of the tubes is to achieve a high
overall heat transfer coefficient while keeping
condensate & including water apart.
 Water box
It acts as a surge of water for CW
tubes. Air locking in CW tubes can be cleared
through the vents in box. It facilitates tube
cleaning.
 Tube sealing
Tube sealing is done to avoid
water leakage to steam space from water box
side.
 Support springs
The condensers are generally
supported on springs which allows movement
of the condenser during operations.
MATERIALS FOR CONDENSER TUBES:

 Copper bearing alloys are prefered as copper

has high heat transfer coefficient.
 Brass , Bronze &copper nickel.

 Stainless steel tubes has also been used and

has good corrosion resistance though heat
transfer co-efficient is quite lower .
 Stainless steel is used where water is highly
corrosive.
ELEMENTS OF A CONDENSING PLANT:
The different elements of a steam condensing plant are as
listed:
 Condenser
 Supply of cooling water
 Condenser cooling water pump
 Condensate extraction pump
 Air extraction pump
 Hot well
 Cooling tower
 Make up water pump
CRITICAL PARAMETERS MEASUREMENT &
CONTROL:
 Condenser vacuum
 CW temperature
 Condenser tube cleaning , Ball cleaning/Back
washing
 Heat transfer in condenser
 Condenser tube leakage
 Effects of CW leakage
 Detection of CW leakage
CONDENSER VACUUM:

 Causes of low condenser vacuum

High CW temperature
Ejector failure/stem pressure low
Gland steam pressure low
Insufficient CW flow
Excessive steam loading
CW TEMPERATURE:
 The condenser vacuum also falls if cooling
water temperature increases . The steam which
is coming to the condenser will not be
condensed and starts accumulating in the
condenser , resulting fall of vacuum .
 Increase in CW temperature ,may be because
of the-
High ambient temperature
High relative humidity
CONTD…….
 CW Flow:
The condenser vacuum also falls if CW flow
decreases because reduced flow of cooling water
will not be able to condense full amount of steam
coming to condenser.
• CW flow reduction may be because of
Condenser tube choking
Air blocking in the water box
Non availability of sufficient number of cooling
pumps.
CONDENSER TUBE CLEANING:

 Condenser tube cleaning is required to remove

the resistance, induced by the:
Debris coming along with C W, which is
deposited on the tube surface or
Algae growth on the tubes surface.
BALL CLEANING:

 In ball cleaning system small sponge balls of

diameter larger than the tube’s diameter are
used.
 Balls are fed in to CW before entry to
condenser.
 These balls travel from one end of the
condenser tube to the other end and clean the
tubes.
BACK WASHING:

 In back washing, tube cleaning is done by back

flushing of CW through tubes.
HEAT TRANSFER IN CONDENSER:
 Heat transfer in the condenser is purely by
convection.
 Temperature of the steam remains constant
 Difference between saturation temperature of
steam and cooling water outlet temperature is
known as terminal temperature difference(TTD).
 TTD should be low for a good condenser
performance.
CONDENSER TUBE LEAKAGE:

 Leakage of CW into the condenser steam space

can be caused by several faults. The main
causes are:
Tube to Tube plate leakage.
Internal corrosion and erosion of tubes.
External erosion of tubes.
Fatigue and stress cracking of the tubes.
EFFECTS OF CW LEAKAGE:

The contamination of condensate occurs with

impurities present in CW , such as Nacl and
other salts.
 The presence of chlorides in boiler water result
in tube corrosion.
DETECTION OF CW LEAKAGE:

 The first indication of tube leakage is the

conductivity of condensate.
 Due to contamination of CW , the conductivity
of condensate increases.
CONCLUSION:

 By controlling the critical parameters which are

mentioned the performance of the condenser
can be increased.