Performance of evaporative condensers

Experimental investigation is conducted to study the performance of evapora tive condensers/coolers. The analysis includes development of correlations for the external heat transfer coefficient and the system efficiency. The e vaporative condenser includes two finned-tube heat exchangers. The system i s designed to allow for operation of a single condenser two condensers in p arallel, and two condensers in series. The analysis is performed as a funct ion of the water-to-air mass flow rate ratio (L/G) and the steam temperatur e. Also, comparison is made between the performance of the evaporative cond enser and same device as an air-cooled condenser Analysis of the collected data shows that the system efficiency increases at lower L/G ratios and hig her steam temperatures. The system efficiency for various configurations fo r the evaporative condenser varies between 97% and 99%. Lower efficiencies are obtained for the air-cooled condensers in series with values between 88 % and 92%. The highest efficiency is found for the two condensers in series , followed by two condensers in parallel and then the single condenser The parallel condenser configuration c an handle a larger amount of inlet steam and can provide the required system efficiency and degree of subcooling. T he correlation for the system efficiency gives a simple tool for preliminar y system design. The correlation developed for the external heat transfer c oefficient is found to be consistent with the available literature data.