CONDENSER

Condensers are the coolers whose primary purpose is the removal of latent heat of
vapors instead of sensible heat. The construction and design is similar to other shell
and tube heat exchangers, but with a wider baffle spacing. (Usually baffle spacing ( l B )
equal to the shell diameter ( D s )

1. Classification
Condensers are classified by what goes on inside them than the process
location or services.
1.1 Single Vapor
Saturated Vapor - Total or partial condenser
tubes
Saturated Vapor - Condensation and sub-cooling
outside the tubes
Superheated Vapor - Condensation and sub-cooling
outside the tubes
Condensation inside the tubes - De-superheating, condensing
and sub-cooling
Condensation of steam
Condensers falls under this category are the modification of 1-2 heat
exchangers and may b referred as 1-2 condensers. These condensers usually
require provision for large entrance space so that the vapor is not subject to
too great pressure drop. (eg. Power plant condensers)

1.2 Vapor Mixtures

Binary mixtures
Vapor mixture with long condensing range
Vapor mixture with non condensable gas
Vapor mixture forming immiscible condensate
Single vapor or vapors with non condensable gas

CH 1407- Chemical Process Equipment Design and Drawing / Compiled by, R.ARUL KAMALAKUMAR Page 1
 Horizontal 1-2 Condenser

CH 1407- Chemical Process Equipment Design and Drawing / Compiled by, R.ARUL KAMALAKUMAR Page 2
 Whatever may be the case four condenser configurations are possible.

1. Horizontal, with condensation in the shell, and the cooling medium in

the tube
2. Horizontal, with condensation in the tubes
3. Vertical, with condensation in the shell
4. Vertical, with condensation in the tubes

Horizontal shell side and vertical tube side are the most commonly used types
of condenser. A horizontal exchanger with condensation in the tubes is rarely
used as a process condenser, but is the usual arrangement for heaters and    
vaporizers using condensing steam as the heating medium.

1. Pressure drop for condensing vapor in a Condenser

For having a good vapor distribution the pressure drop consideration is
necessary. Also this will help to space the baffles accordingly.
For a pumped vapor, a pressure drop of 5 psi is allowed
For gravity systems, the allowable pressure drop is 1-2 psi
When it becomes difficult to meet the allowable pressure drop, a lower
pressure drop could be achieved by having split or divided flow
2. A comparison between Horizontal and Vertical Condensers

S. No Factor Horizontal Vertical

1 Condensing The horizontal coefficient will
Coefficient be 3.07 times as the vertical
coefficient Provided the film is
streamline
2 Condenser For condensing the exhaust
surface area steam from turbine requires a
large surface area and heat
transfer coefficient required is
high and for such services
horizontal condensers are
used
3 Maintenance Is cheaper and easier when
compared with others
4 Sub cooling Not suitable
60% of the vapor condenses
In the upper half of the tube. Any
way the advantage of having
transition of vertical film into
turbulent flow is not appreciable
Large condensation surface in a
vertical condenser could not be
achieved, as gravity return is not
suited for this type of operation
Maintenance and structural
support for the vertical condenser
is costly and difficult
Suitable and is done specially
when the overhead product is
volatile liquid to the storage

3. Design Procedure
1. Using the given data find out the heat required to be removed, Q
If it is sensible heat useQ=mC p ∆T , If latent heat use Q=mλ
2. Based on the Q calculate the mass flow rate of the unknown stream
3. Based on the problem given calculate T avefor hot and cold streams

CH 1407- Chemical Process Equipment Design and Drawing / Compiled by, R.ARUL KAMALAKUMAR Page 3
 T h 1 +T h 2
T ave, h= ,
2
Where T h 1∧T h 2are temperature of hot fluid in and out.
T c 1+ T c 2
T ave, c = ,
2
Where T c1 ∧T c 2 are temperature of cold fluid in and out.
4. Calculate ∆ T h 1∧∆ T h 2

∆ T h 1=T h 1−T c2and ∆ T h 2=T h 2−T c1

5. Find dimensionless temperature ratios R and S

(Note: Where R is the capacity ratio, equal to the shell side fluid flow rate times
the fluid mean specific heat.
S is the temperature ratio (also represented as τ ), which is measure of the
temperature efficiency of the exchanger.)

T h 1−T h2 T c 2−T c1
R= and S=
T c 2−T c1 T h 1−T c1

Using this R and S, using the graph (Pg No: 292, Binay K. Dutta) Calculate
F T , the LMTD Correction factor.
6. Calculate the LMTD

∆ T 1 −T 2
¿ × F T =∆ T lm
LMTD ΔT 1
ln
ΔT 2
7. In this step assume the value U o overall heat transfer coefficient and
proceed with the calculations and finally it is possible to determine it
according to the given condition.
From table 8.2 (Page 297, Binay K.Dutta) . The selection of U o should be based on
the type of operation specified in the problem (Condensation, Heating,
Vaporization or Heating / Cooling (with no phase change) and based on the hot
and cold fluid given in the problem, the selection of the fluid (hot and cold) should
be the nearest approximation from the given list. This will give more realistic
U o value. Let us considerU o (assumed)
8. Based on the U o assumed, calculate heat transfer area Ao
Q
Ao =
U o(assumed ) ∆ T lm
9. Fix the tube side and shell side fluid based on the guidelines given or from
standard book. Also assume tube pitch arrangement. For condensers it is

CH 1407- Chemical Process Equipment Design and Drawing / Compiled by, R.ARUL KAMALAKUMAR Page 4
 better to go for square pitch. Also fix the type of the condenser ie horizontal
or vertical.
Ao
10. No of tubes =n , Where Ao is heat transfer area and A is the outer
¿
A
surface area of one tube. Assume no of pass (N), A=π d o L, L is the length of
the tube.
n
Calculate tubes per pass n P, n P=
N
π d i2
Area per pass¿ A P=n P
4
If length of the tube is not given then assume no of passes and proceed
with the calculation.
Calculate the pitch Pt =1.25× d o, Where d o is pipe outside diameter
11. Calculate the bundle diameter Db
1
n
D b =d o
( ),
k1
n1
where k 1∧n1are constants.

(find the value of k 1∧n1, from the table no 12.4 on Page no 649, Coulson and
Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Design, Fourth Edition, Vol 6 based on the no
of passes and type of pitch arrangement)
Then calculate the shell inside diameter Di
Di=D b+Clearence ,
(where Clarence is estimated from the table no 12.10 on Page no 646, Coulson
and Richardson’s Chemical Engineering Design, Fourth Edition,
Vol 6 based on the bundle diameter)
Db
12. Calculate no of tubes in the centre row ¿
Pt
13. Calculate the shell side coefficient, hi
0.8
4200 ( 1.35+0.02T ave ,c ) u t
hi =
d 0.2
i

ṁ c
ut = Where ṁ c is the mass flow rate of the cold fluid
ρ× CS Area of the tube
π d 2i n p
Tube CS Area=
4
14. Shell side coefficient
To calculate the shell side coefficient it is necessary to estimate the physical
properties of the shell side fluid at mean temperature of the condensate.
T ave ,h +T w
Mean temperature of the condensate=
2
T w (mean wa≪temperature ) is calculated using the relation.

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 ( T ave ,h−T w ) h́s =( T ave, h−T ave, c ) U o ,assumed
Where h́ s is the condensing film coefficient , could be assumed as
1500 W /m 2 ° C
For the value of T w estimate the physical properties of the condensate viz. ρ L , μ L , K L .
If the exact name of the condensate is not given, then based on the molecular mass,
proportionate properties of the component could be estimated from the component
having nearest molecular mass.
Based on the type of the condenser i.e. vertical or horizontal the shell side
coefficient is calculated using either of the relation.
1
ρL ( ρL −ρV ) g −1
h s ,horizontal =0.95 K L
[ μL Γ h ] 3
Nr 6
(Kern Equation)

1
ρ L ( ρ L− ρV ) g
h s ,vertical =0.926 K L
[ μL Γ v ] 3
(Boy Ko-Kruzhilin Equation)

M avg 273 P2
ρV ( Vapor Density )= × ×
22.4 ( 273+ T avg , h ) P1
M avg isthe average molcular mass
P2 Condenser oprating pressure , P 1 Atmospheric pressure
For Horizontal condensers,
ṁ
Γ h = s ,ṁ s is the mass flow rate of the shell side fluid,
L Nt
L is length of the tube
For vertical condensers,
ṁs
Γ v=
π do N t
N r =No of tubes∈the centre row
15. Fouling Factor (to be taken from standard reference books, usually given in
the problem itself) for calculation purpose the fluids which do not foul
much, it could be a reasonable assumption to have dirt factor (fouling factor)
w
as equal in each side, i.e. h od =hid =6000 and assume thermal
m °C
W
conductivity of the wall K w =50 (Carbon steel range)
m° C

16. Overall heat transfer coefficient Uo

CH 1407- Chemical Process Equipment Design and Drawing / Compiled by, R.ARUL KAMALAKUMAR Page 6
 do
1 1 1
d o ln ( )
di do 1 d 1
= + +
U o ho h od 2Kw
+ ( ) ( )( ) ( )
di
×
hid
+ o ×
di hi

17. Pressure Drop-Tube side

L μ −0.14
ρ μ2t
[ ( )( )
∆ Pt = 8 j f , t
di μw
+ 2.5
] 2
ut ρ d i
Calculate N ℜ, s= , µ is the viscosity of the tube side fluid
μ
Calculate the N ℜ, s, and j f ,t (Dimnsionless Friction Factor ) is estimated based
on the N ℜ, s,using the Fig.12.24, Page no 668, Coulson and Richardson’s
Chemical Engineering Design, Fourth Edition, Vol 6

For the calculated mean wall temperature T w the viscosity ( μw ¿ is to be calculated

using the nomogram for viscosity of fluids from,Fig.14, page 821-823,Process Heat
Transfer by Donald Q.Kern or as per the value given in the problem calculate
−0.14
μ
( )
μw
, any way for water the term is equal to 1.

18. Pressure Drop Shell-side

ρ u2s
[ D L
]
−0.14
1 μ
∆ P s= 8 j fs s
2 de l B( )( )( )( ) 2 μw

               As a condenser it is reasonable to assume floating head (pull through / no

clearance) and Baffle spacing ( l B ) = Shell diameter ( D s ), 45% cut section is               
very reasonable assumption. Then calculate A s , G S , d e , N ℜ, s,u s, j f
( Pt−d o ) Ds l B ṁ s 1.27 ( P2t −0.785 d2o) G
A s= , Gs = , d e = , N ℜ, s,U s= s
Pt As do ρv
4. Design Summary
1. Heat load Q
2. Mass flow rate of cold ∧hot fluid− ṁc , ṁh
3. Average temperature of Cold ∧Hot Fluid−T avg ,c ,T avg , h∧∆ T h 1 , ∆T h 2 ,T w
4. Temperature ratios R and S, LMTD correction factorF T
5. LMTD
6. Heat transfr area A o
7. No of tubes, Pitch, No of tubes in centre row
8. Bundle Diameter, Clarence, Baffle Spacing, Shell Diameter
9. Tube side and Shell side fluid velocity (ut ,u s)
10. Tube side and Shell side coefficients (hi , ho )
11.Overall heat transfer coefficient U o

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 12. Tube side- N ℜ, t , j ft , Pressure drop ∆ Pt
13. Shell side - N ℜ, s , j fs , Pressure dropp ∆ P s

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