Air Cooled Condenser - A Dry Cooling Tower

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. 

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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,

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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.

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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-plantcondenser-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 