Learn Why Vacuum is Maintained in Condenser?
It’s necessary to understand “why vacuum is maintained in condenser?” Well, the importance of having high vacuum in condenser have its own importance. Regardless of the reasons, today, we’ll be discussing everything related to the vacuum in condenser.
Did you know that condensers do not need to maintain vacuum all the time. But, in can cases of boiler system, they require to maintain the vacuum properly.
So, at first let’s find out the importance of maintaining vacuum in the condensing system next.
Vacuum Importance in Condensing System
As we’ve already mentioned that condensers don’t require to maintain the vacuum all the time except in the cases of boiler systems. Why water is used? It’s for converting steam into the liquid form in the boiler system. It’s true whether it’s used in the ship, power plants, or any other industries. There’s an interesting thing about water and steam. Their relation in terms of ratio is 1 is to 1600.
What does that ratio mean? Simply, it means, the steam is converted to the size of 1/1600 times. So, that’s how the condenser have the vacuum inside due to the change in size of the steam while converting to water. But, it’s getting a bit more technical, right?
Well, consider a scenario where something is completely enclosed in a container. There’s no space inside the container. Now, if the size of the item is reduced to half of its original size. Won’t there be an extra space in the container? That space is basically the vacuum. And, that’s what’s maintained in a condenser.
But, why does that need maintaining? It’s for the steam to flow properly. So, the turbines in water plants can gain the energy from the flow of steam.
Why Vacuum is Maintained in Most Condenser ?
Well, we’ve told that vacuum doesn’t need to be there in the condenser all the times. But, remember that it needs to be there in most of the cases in a condenser system. And, it’s certainly needs to be there in a boiler system. In the boiler system of any type of industrial plants, including ship, power plants, or nuclear plants, it’s necessary all the time.
You might already know that the steam, when it’s turned into water, the size reduces to 1/1600 times than the original size. Thus, the creation of vacuum is certain. Hence, understand that, the decrease of size creates the vacuum mainly. Now, we need the proper flow of steam all the time.
So, for making sure that the flow of steam is there, at times, the use of vacuum pump (external) and other air production system are there to suppor the process. Now, we’ll talk about the rankine cycle to make you understand the concept even more clearly.
Rankine cycle is nothing more than a study of temperature and entropy in a graph. So, with the help of the graph, you can easily understand the flow of steam in a boiler system. That way, you can understand the process of heat engine and how much vacuum is needed to maintain in a condenser.
What Will Happen If Vacuum Is Increase Or Removed ?
So far we’ve got that the vacuum needs to be there in the boiler system condernser and it needs to be there all the time. Now, we’ll talk what will happen with the change of vacuum by the time. If the pressure is low in a condenser, it’ll work fast and produce faster condensation. Moreover, there’ll be more heat exchange.
But, there’s always a limit how much you can lower the pressure in a condenser. Excess shorage of pressure might very well create problems. If the pressure in the condenser decreases up to a certain point, you’ll find it hard to maintain the perfect vacuum level and sealing condition.
By reducing the pressure, steam will most certainly be condensed at lower temperature. However, with the decrease in temperature, vacuum will be harder to be maintained. Hence, a greater temperature is good for the condenser. Hence, you need to esnsure the proper heat exchange process of the condenser.
Again, it can generate back pressure, if you remove vacuum from the condenser. Why? It’ll very well increase the unused heat energy. Moreover, there’ll be drop or fall in the p.h. level of the boiler water. So, the situation can be critical at times.
Should You Clean Or Replace Your A.C Condenser
This portion of the topic is bit off topic. But, let’s know for the betterment. For the purpose of perfect heat transfer process, the condernsers have tubes with perfect thin fin structure. But, at times, they can get clogged. So, it’s necessary to clean the dust and debris from the condenser tubes.
While cleaning is a suitable option, replacing can be another option. For the ultimate safety, don’t clean over damaged condenser tubes. This will ultimately lead to clogging more frequently. At that time try repairing or replacing the air conditioner.
However, if you can follow the instruction manual of A.C condenser, you can clean the dust easily. But, a technician doing the cleaning part is more prefereable. However, if you’re used to the cleaning process of condensers, you can very well do the task yourself.
Final Thoughts
So, gradually, we’ve discussed a lot of the condenser system today. It should now be clear to all about the importance of maintaining vacuum in a condenser. Especially, in a boiler system, vacuum should be there all the time for the proper flow of steam in the condenser.
Moreover, we’ve also talked about the change in vacuum of a condenser and its consequences. You can also find from our discussion when to change the AC condenser and when to clean it. We hope that we could provide you with the necessary information on the topic.
