Requirements of Steam Condensing Plant

1. Condenser:

It is a closed vessel used to condense the steam. The low pressure steam gives off its heat to the coolant
(here water from cooling tower) and gets converted into water during the process of condensation.

2. Condensate Extraction Pump: It is a pump which is installed in between the condenser and hot well. It
transfers the condensate from the condenser to the hot well.

3. Hot Well: It is a sump that lies in between the condenser and boiler. It receives the condensate from the
condenser by condensate pump. The feed water is transferred from the hot well to the boiler.

4. Boiler Feed Pump: It is a pump installed in between the hot well and boiler. It pumps the feed water from
the hot well to the boiler. And this is done by increasing the pressure of condensate above boiler pressure.

5. Air Extraction Pump: It is a pump used to extracts or removes the air from the steam condenser.

6. Cooling Tower: It is a tower which contains the cold water and this water is made to circulate within the
condenser for cooling of steam.
7. Cooling Water Pump: It is a pump lies in between the cooling tower and condenser. It circulates the cooling
water through the condenser.

Working

The steam condenser receives the exhaust steam from one end and comes in contact with the cooling
water circulated within it form the cooling tower. As the low pressure steam comes in contact with the
cooling water, it condenses and converts into water. It is connected to the air extraction pump and
condensate extraction pump. After the condensation of steam, the condensate is pumped to the hot well
with the help of condensate extraction pump. The air extraction pump extracts the air from the condenser
and creates the vacuum inside it. The vacuum created helps in the circulation of cooling water and flow of
condensate downward.

Surface Condensers

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.

(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. (iv) Evaporative

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 mixed with Exhaust steam and cooling water are not mixed
each other. with each other.
1.

2. It is less suitable for high capacity plants. It is more suitable for high capacity plants.

The condensing plant using this type of steam The condensing plant using surface condenser is
condenser is simple and costly and complicated.
economical.
3.

4. Condensate is wasted and cannot be reused. The condensate is reused.

5. Less quantity of circulating water is required. Large quantity of circulating water is required.

6. It has low maintenance cost. It has high maintenance cost.

In jet condenser, more power is required for In surface condenser, less power is required for
the air pump. the air pump.
7.

8. High power is required for water pumping. Less power is required for water pumping.