A surface condenser is a commonly used term for a water-cooled shell and tube heat exchanger installed on the exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled condenser is however significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as low a steam turbine exhaust pressure as a water-cooled surface condenser.
Surface condensers are also used in applications and industries other than the condensing of steam turbine exhaust in power plants.
Read more about Surface Condenser: Purpose, Why It Is Required, Diagram of Water-cooled Surface Condenser, Corrosion, Effects of Tube Side Fouling, Other Applications of Surface Condensers, Testing
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)