Thermal Design and Performance Comparison of  Water and Air–cooled Ammonia Condensers for  Refrigeration Systems

Parin D. Shah; Shreya Sahajpal

Volume : III, Issue : VII, July - 2013

Thermal Design and Performance Comparison of Water and Air–cooled Ammonia Condensers for Refrigeration Systems

Parin D. Shah, Shreya Sahajpal

Abstract :

In vapour compression cycle, ammonia vapours are compressed to its superheated state and condensed to liquid. Water and Air are mainly used as a cooling medium for ammonia condensation. In this paper the comparison between design and performance of a water–cooled and an air–cooled condenser has been carried out. Both the condensers have been designed manually as well as with HTRI software. Based on the fixed and operating cost it has been observed that, fixed cost of the water–cooled condenser is lower than that of air–cooled condenser. So an air–cooler is less economically attractive than a water cooler in this service. But nowadays, water has become a scarce and depleting resource. Considering the conservation of natural resources, air–cooled condensers may prove to be beneficial. Air–cooled condensers can be used in areas where water costs are excessive or where water availability is a problem.