What Is a Surface Condenser?

Surface condenser ^[1] refers to a condenser that separates the condensed substance and the coolant with a heat-transferring partition and performs heat exchange through the surface of the partition (called heat transfer). Its structure and working principle are the same as those of the partition heat exchanger. The heat exchange partition wall is generally made of a material with better thermal conductivity.

Surface condenser, the most commonly used is a tube and tube heat exchanger, or shell and tube heat exchanger ^[2]

Its structure and working principle are the same as those of the partition heat exchanger. The heat exchange partition wall is generally made of a material with better thermal conductivity. Commonly used coolants are cold water, salt water, air, ammonia, and freon. The latter two substances are used to obtain low temperatures below 0 ° C, also known as refrigerants. When the content of condensing steam in the gas phase is large and the non-condensable substance is small, a surface condenser should be used. When the non-condensable matter is dominant and the condensate is not easy to fall off the surface, a tube-type surface condenser with a heat transfer surface on the gas side that is easy to clean may be considered. There are two types of installation: discrete and horizontal. Horizontal condensers need to be tilted slightly to facilitate drainage ^[1]

Condenser for

When a home air conditioner is cooling, the heat exchanger (also called a heat exchanger) in the outdoor unit is called a condenser, and the heat exchanger in the indoor unit is called an evaporator. During the heat release process of the condenser, the high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous Freon is used to exchange heat with the air outdoors to become a low-temperature and high-pressure liquid Freon.

The condenser is an outdoor heat exchanger that is a high-pressure device of the system during cooling (the heating and cooling heat pump type is a low-pressure device in the heating state) and is installed between the compressor exhaust port and the throttling device (capillary or electronic expansion valve). The high-temperature and high-pressure gas (Freon) discharged from the air-conditioning compressor enters the condenser, and is cooled by copper tubes and aluminum foil. The air-conditioner is equipped with an axial-flow cooling fan. During cooling and condensing, the pressure does not change, the temperature decreases, and the gas is converted into a liquid.

The process of refrigerant change in the condenser can be regarded as an isothermal process in theory. In fact, it has three functions. One is that the air takes away the superheated part of the high-temperature air-conditioning refrigerant gas sent by the compressor, making it a dry saturated vapor; the second is liquefaction under the condition that the saturation temperature does not change; the third is when When the air temperature is lower than the condensing temperature, the liquefied refrigerant is further cooled to the same temperature as the surrounding air, which plays a cooling role ^[3] .