Jet Condenser

 There is a direct contact between the exhaust steam and cooling water. The temperature of
the condensate is same as that of the cooling water leaving the condenser.
 The temperature of the condensate is same as that of the cooling water leaving the
condenser.
 Heat exchange occurs by direct conduction between the steam and water. If the cooling
water is not pure and free from harmful impurities then the condensate cannot be reused as
feed water to the boilers. Due to loss of condensate and high power requirement by the
pump these condensers are rarely used in modern steam power plants.

Surface Condenser

 There is no direct contact between the exhaust steam and the cooling water. The steam
surrounds the tubes fitted in the condenser shell and the cooling water circulates through these
tubes. The steam gets condensed due to the heat transfer transfer to cooling water by
conduction and convection. The condensate collected from these condensers is reused as feed
water in the boiler. Thus, these condensersare most suitable for modern steam power plants and
chemical industries. These are generally used where a large quantity of inferior water is available
and better quality of feed water is to be supplied to the boiler. So these condensers are
universally used in marine engines where seawater is used for cooling purposes. The only
drawback of these condensers is its high initial cost but is recovered by the saving in running
cost.

Low-Level

 Low level is placed at low levels such that vaccum inside the condenser draws the cooling water
into it from the cooling water source. Parallel flow and counterflow low-level jet condensers.
 In counterflow jet condenser, the water and steam flows in opposite directions but in parallel
flow both flow in the same direction. In both cases the cooling water enters at the top of the
condenser and passes through the perforated trays so that it breaks into sprays and increases
the heat transfer rate by providing more contact surface area.
 When the steams come into contact with cooling water it gets condensed. The extraction of air is
done from the top of the condensers. The vacuum created in the condenser is sufficient to draw
the cold water from the cooling pond. The pressure causing the water flow from the cooling
pond(or cold tank) to the condenser top is given by (Pa-Pc), where Pa is the atmospheric
pressure and Pc is the condenser pressure. The condensate is extracted by the extraction pump
and is discharged to the hot well. The excess amount of condensate from hot well flows into the
cooling pond by an overflow pipe and the remaining water is pumped to the boiler as feed
water. These condensers have the disadvantage of flooding the turbine if water extraction pump
fails due to any reason.

High-Level Jet Condensers

 A high-level jet condenser is also called as barometric condenser because the condenser
shell is placed above the hot well by more than barometric height of water column of 10.
 363 m. A long tailpipe, more than 10.363 m in length is attached between the bottom of the
condenser and the hot well. The pressure at the bottom of the pipe is equal to atmospheric
pressure, whereas as its top in the condenser shell vacuum pressure is maintained. It avoids
the rise of water in the tail pipe and water extraction pump is also not required. The
condensate and water from the condenser go down to the hot well under the gravity and
maintain a water leg in the tail pipe depending upon the vacuum in the condenser. As the
height of the shell is large so, an injection pump is required to pump water to the top of the
shell.
 The working and other details of this condenser are similar to low-level counter flow jet
condenser.
 Its drawbacks are high costs and lost of vaccum between the turbine and the condenser. It is
used where sufficient head required for tailpipe is available.

Ejector Condenser

 It is suitable for moderate vacuum only.

 The cooling water under the head of about 5m to 6m enters the condenser from its top. It is
discharged through a series of convergent nozzles in which the potential energy converted into
the kinetic energy and thus partial vacuum is created. The exhaust steam enters the condenser
through a non-return valve. It condenses through the mixing with cooling water and thus
vacuum further increases. The condensate after passing through the series of convergent nozzles
passes through the divergent nozzle. When it passes through the divergent nozzle the kinetic
energy of condensate reconverts into potential energy and thus a higher pressure than the
atmospheric pressure is obtained which forces out the condensate tot the hot well. Thus, in this
condenser no air extraction pump is required. A non-return valve is fitted at the exhaust steam
pipe to the condenser to prevent any rush of water from the hot well to the turbine in the case
of cooling water failure.

Surface Condenser

 It consists of an airtight cylindrical shell closed at the each end. A number of parallel brass water
tubes are are fitted in the tube plates which are fixed between each cover head and the shell.
The space between the tube plates and the cover head is known as water box. A baffle plate
partitions the water box into two sections. The cooling water enters the shell at the lower halfm
section and flows in one direction. Then it returns in the opposite direction through the upper
half section of the condenser and finally, it leaves through the outlet. In this type, the water
traverses two times, so it is called the two-pass condenser. The exhaust steam from the turbine
enters at the top of the condenser and surrounds the tubes through which cooling water flows
under force. The steam condenses when it comes in contact with the cold surface of the tubes,
The water gets warmed in the condenser is discharged into the cooling tower, river, or cooling
pond. The condensate is taken out from the condenser by a condensate extraction pump. The air
is removed by an air extraction pump.
 Down Flow Surface Condenser

 Also known as dry vacuum type condenser.

 The steam enters at the top and flow downwards over the tubes carrying cooling water. A
section of tubes near the air pump suction is screen off by providing a baffle plate. This screen is
also called air cooler which helps in extracting air at a lower temperaturethan the condensate.
The low temperature of air reduces its volume and hence the size of the pump gets reduced by
as much as 50 percent.

Central Flow

 A central flow surface condenser in which the air extraction pump is provided at the center
and the air is extracted from the center.
 The exhaust steam and air enter from the top and flow radially towards the center by
passing over the entire periphery of the tubes. The condensate is extracted at the bottom by
condensate extraction pump. This condenser is an improvement over the down flow type as
steam has an access to the whole periphery of the cooling tubes.

Inverted Flow Surface Condenser

 In the inverted flow type, the air suction pump is provided at the top. So, the steam entering fom
the bottom of the condenser flows upwards. The condensed steam collects in the bottom
section from where it is extracted with the help of a condensate extraction pump.

Evaporative

 These are used where scarcity of water. The exhaust steam from the turbine enters a coiled
finned pipe. The water from the cooling pond is pumped by means of a pump to horizontal
header which is provided with spray nozzles. The sprayed water forms thin film over the pipe
surface and gets evaporated in passing over the pipe under a small partial pressure and thus
cools the steam inside the pipes. The air is drawn over the surface of finned pipe with the help of
induced draft fan to increase the evaporation of cooling water which further increases the
condensation of steam in pipes. Eliminators are provided to prevent the exit of water vapors
with the leaving heated air. The cooling water gets collected into the cooling pond. In the cooling
pond the water lost due to evaporation is replenished by the addition of required amount of
cold make up water.
 The arrangement of this type of condenser is simple, cheap, and requires small quantity of
cooling water thus capacity of water circulating pump is small. The vaccum maintained in this
type of condenser is not as high in the case of surface condensers. These condensers are used in
small power plants and are extensively used in refrigeration plant units.