Vapor condenser

Vapor condenser

A heat-transfer device that reduces a thermodynamic fluid from its vapor phase to its liquid phase. The vapor condenser extracts the latent heat of vaporization from the vapor, as a higher-temperature heat source, by absorption in a heat-receiving fluid of lower temperature. The vapor to be condensed may be wet, saturated, or superheated. The heat receiver is usually water but may be a fluid such as air, a process liquid, or a gas. When the condensing of vapor is primarily used to add heat to the heat-receiving fluid, the condensing device is called a heater and is not within the normal classification of a condenser.

Condensers may be divided into two major classes according to use: those used as part of a processing system (process condensers) and those used for serving engines or turbines in a steam power plant cycle (power cycle condensers). Condensers may be further classified according to mode of operation as surface condensers or as contact condensers. See Contact condenser

Condensers are required, almost without exception, to condense impure vapors, that is, vapors containing air or other noncondensable gases. Because most condensers operate at subatmospheric pressures, air leaking into the apparatus or system becomes a common cause for vapor contamination, and a variety of designs have been developed to reduce such problems. Accumulation of noncondensable gases seriously affects heat transfer, and means must be provided to direct them to a suitable outlet. Most surface and contact condensers are arranged with a separate zone of heat-transfer surface within the condenser and located at the outlet end of the vapor flow path for efficient removal of the noncondensable gases through dehumidification.