Air-cooled and water-cooled condenser
Also known as: air-cooled condenser, water-cooled condenser
Short definitionA condenser rejects heat either to outdoor air with fans or to water from a tower or a well. The first is air-cooled, the second water-cooled; capacity, climate and water availability decide which one is used.
An air-cooled condenser is made of finned tubes and fans, needs no water, and its maintenance is cleaning the fins. In a water-cooled condenser the refrigerant condenses in a shell-and-tube or plate heat exchanger; the warmed water is cooled in a tower and returned, or well water is used. Because condensing can be held at 35–40 °C, the compressor draws 15–25% less electricity.
Most cold room projects use the air-cooled type; below roughly 300 kW that is the rule. Its weak point is a hot summer day: the condensing temperature passes 50 °C, capacity drops and consumption rises. So the condenser is sized for the hottest day of the site. Water-cooled is considered for large plants and where water is plentiful; scale, corrosion, tower maintenance and winter freezing come with it.