Air Cooled Condensers

An Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) is a direct dry cooling system where the steam is condensed inside air-cooled finned tubes. Since there is no intermediate surface condenser like Indirect Dry Cooling, the overall performance is better.

The SPX Dry Cooling Air Cooled Condenser features long-term mechanical and thermal integrity, excellent corrosion and freeze resistance, low fan power consumption, reliable operation and low maintenance.

An Air Cooled Condenser (ACC) is made of modules arranged in parallel rows. Each module contains a number of fin tube bundles. An axial flow, forced-draft fan located in each module forces the cooling air across the heat exchange area of the fin tubes.

The typical scope for an ACC installation includes the supporting structure, the steam ducting from the steam turbine interface, auxiliaries such as the condensate and drain pumps, condensate and duct drain tanks, the air evacuation units and related piping works and instrumentation.

There are good reasons for purging air from your refrigeration system, operating efficiency being the main one; increased equipment lifespan is another. It’s important, however, that correct purging procedures are used.

This article will examine why air should be purged, and how it should be done.

Air can enter any refrigeration system:

• By leaking through condenser seals and valve packings when suction pressure is below atmospheric conditions;
• When the system is open for repairs, coil cleaning, equipment additions, etc.;
• When charging by refrigerant trucks;
• When adding oil;
• By the breakdown of refrigerant or lubricating oil
• From impurities in the refrigerant.To determine the amount of air in a refrigeration system, check the condenser pressure and temperature of the refrigerant leaving the condenser against the data in a temperature-pressure chart. If, for example, your ammonia temperature is 85 degrees F, the theoretical condenser pressure should be 151.8 psig.