What is a condenser?
A condenser is a part in which a fluid changes phase and transitions from a vapor to a liquid state by transferring heat alongside another fluid, such as water or air, and heating. In fact, the fluid condenses and turns into a liquid.
What is the function of the condenser in the refrigeration cycle?
There are four main components to air conditioning systems that often use a compression refrigeration cycle. Compressor, condenser, evaporator and expansion valve.
The condenser in this cycle is responsible for taking heat from the refrigerant, converting it from gas to liquid and then transferring it to the expansion valve.
The main task of a condenser in a refrigeration cycle is to cool the refrigerant. The refrigerant enters the condenser after being compressed in the compressor and into a high-pressure hot gas state. The condenser cools this gas through water or air and tries to change its phase from gas to liquid at the same pressure by capturing the latent heat of refrigerant.
What are the types of condensers?
Condensers can be very different in terms of performance and placement in different devices, but there are three general categories for these components:
1 – condensers or air Hvakhnk
2 – water condensers or cold water
3 – condensers Evaporating
1 – condensers or air Hvakhnk :
These condensers convert refrigerant from gas to liquid by air phase. In fact, air condensers are located in the outside environment and use ambient air to cool the refrigerant.
These condensers usually consist of a coil with copper tubes lined with aluminum fins. There is also one or more blower fans for air circulation on this coil. Of course, air condenser coils can also be made entirely of aluminum, such as a microchannel condenser. The refrigerant first enters the condenser tubes and after being placed in the tortuous tubes, it is placed in the vicinity of the air. Aluminum fins help to better transfer heat from the refrigerant and air.
The shape of the design and placement of the condenser plates is very important and has a direct impact on their efficiency. The blower fan sucks more air to the condenser by sucking air and passing air through the condenser plates.
The blower fan speed can be fixed or variable speed. In the variable speed type, the blower rotates according to the requested demand and causes cooling. Also, the type of blower fan and its shape on the condenser have a direct effect on creating noise. Today, variable speed fans with silent chambers are used to reduce device noise.
2 – condenser water or cold water :
In this type of condenser, the refrigerant is cooled by water.
In this case, the hot refrigerant is placed by pipes near water. Water heating capacity is much higher than air, so devices with water condenser are more efficient than devices with air condenser.
A very common type of water condenser used in chillers is the shell and tube model. This piece has a set of small diameter pipes that are inside a shell. The simplest type of condenser is a two-pipe type, in which a shell actually consists of only one pipe.
Shell and Tube condenser has a set of tubes and a shell around them. Usually water flows into the inner tubes and a liquid or gaseous refrigerant is placed in the shell. The proximity of the gas refrigerant to the water pipes causes the gas to lose heat and become liquid. The water that has taken the refrigerant heat for cooling again must either be completely replaced (for places such as the river) or it must be cooled again by another device called a cooling tower.
3 – condensers Evaporating:
These condensers use both water and air to cool the refrigerant.
Water is sprayed from above on the pipes containing refrigerant and air passes from the bottom to the top through the condenser pipes. Water sprayed on pipes containing refrigerant may evaporate and the source from which the water is pumped and used as a spray on the pipes will need to be replaced.