condenser

/keuhn den"seuhr/, n.

1. a person or thing that condenses.

2. an apparatus for condensing.

3. any device for reducing gases or vapors to liquid or solid form.

4. Optics. a lens or combination of lenses that gathers and concentrates light in a specified direction, often used to direct light onto the projection lens in a projection system.

5. Elect. capacitor.

[1680-90; CONDENSE + -ER¹]

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Device for reducing a gas or vapour to a liquid.

Condensers are used in power plants to condense exhaust steam from turbines and in refrigeration plants to condense refrigerant vapours, such as ammonia and Freons. The petroleum and chemical industries use condensers for hydrocarbons and other chemical vapours. In distillation, a condenser transforms vapour to liquid. All condensers work by removing heat from the gas or vapour. In some, the gas passes through a long tube of heat-conductive metal, such as copper (usually arranged in a coil or other compact shape), and heat escapes into the surrounding air. Large industrial condensers use water or some other liquid to remove the heat. The term condenser also refers to a device attached to carding machines in textile factories to collect fibres into roving for spinning machines.

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▪ cooling device

      device for reducing a gas or vapour to a liquid. Condensers are employed in power plants to condense exhaust steam from turbines and in refrigeration plants to condense refrigerant vapours, such as ammonia and fluorinated hydrocarbons. The petroleum and chemical industries employ condensers for the condensation of hydrocarbons and other chemical vapours. In distilling operations, the device in which the vapour is transformed to a liquid state is called a condenser.

      All condensers operate by removing heat from the gas or vapour; once sufficient heat is eliminated, liquefaction occurs. For some applications, all that is necessary is to pass the gas through a long tube (usually arranged in a coil or other compact shape) to permit heat to escape into the surrounding air. A heat-conductive metal, such as copper, is commonly used to transport the vapour. A condenser's efficiency is often enhanced by attaching fins (i.e., flat sheets of conductive metal) to the tubing to accelerate heat removal. Commonly, such condensers employ fans to force air through the fins and carry the heat away. In many cases, large condensers for industrial applications use water or some other liquid in place of air to achieve heat removal.

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