Water-Cooled CondensersIn a water-c

Water-Cooled CondensersIn a water-cooled condenser, latent heat of condensation released from the refrigerant during condensation is extracted by water. This cooling water, often called condenser water, is taken directly fromriver, lake, sea, underground well water or a cooling tower.Two types of water-cooled condensers are widely used for air-conditioning and refrigeration: doubletube condensers and horizontal shell-and-tube condensers.A double-tube condenser consists of two tubes, one inside the other. Condenser water is pumpedthrough the inner tube and refrigerant flows within the space between the inner and outer tubes in acounterflow arrangement. Because of its limited condensing area, the double-tube condenser is usedonly in small refrigeration systems.A horizontal shell-and-tube water-cooled condenser using halocarbon refrigerant usually has an outershell in which copper tubes typically 5/8 to 3/4 in. in diameter are fixed in position by tube sheets asshown in Figure 9.8.2(b). Integral external fins of 19 to 35 fins/in. and a height of 0.006 in. and spiralinternal grooves are used for copper tubes to increase both the external and the inner surface area andtheir heat transfer coefficients.