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http://dx.doi.org/10.3795/KSME-B.2012.36.8.811

Preventing Freezing of Condensate inside Tubes of Air-Cooled Condenser  

Joo, Jeong-A (Dept. of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chonbuk Nat'l Univ.)
Hwang, In-Hwan (Dept. of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chonbuk Nat'l Univ.)
Cho, Young-Il (Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel Univ.)
Lee, Dong-Hwan (Dept. of Mechanical Design Engineering, Chonbuk Nat'l Univ.)
Publication Information
Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B / v.36, no.8, 2012 , pp. 811-819 More about this Journal
Abstract
An air-cooled condenser is a device that is used for converting steam into condensate by using ambient air. The air-cooled condenser is prone to suffer from a serious explosion when the condensate inside the tubes of a heat exchanger is frozen; in particular, tubes can break during winter. This is primarily due to the structural problem of the tube outlet of an existing conventional air-cooled condenser system, which causes the backflow of residual steam and noncondensable gases. To solve the backflow problem in such condensers, such a system was simulated and a new system was designed and evaluated in this study. The experimental results using the simulated condenser showed the occurrence of freezing because of the backflow inside the tube. On the other hand, no backflow and freezing occurred in the advanced new condenser, and efficient heat exchange occurred.
Keywords
Air-Cooled Condenser; Residue Steam; Non-Condensable Gases; Backflow; Condensate; Freezing; Bursting Accident;
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