What is the difference between a fin tube condenser and an evaporator?

What is the difference between a fin tube condenser and an evaporator?

What is the difference between a condenser and an evaporator?

Firstly, both condensers and evaporators belong to heat exchange equipment, but condensers are exothermic components and evaporators are heat absorbing components. Both are indispensable components in refrigeration equipment.

Let's look at the differences between condensers and evaporators.

Both condensers and evaporators are heat exchangers. By heat exchange we mean a device in which two or more fluids of different temperatures transfer heat to each other, hence the term heat exchange equipment. Therefore, although condensers and evaporators have different structural forms, they work on the same principle. They are both devices for the exchange of heat between the refrigerant and the external medium flowing over the surface of the vessel, i.e. they are both heat exchangers. In terms of the factors affecting heat transfer, condensers and evaporators are also the same, and their heat transfer is closely related to the heat exchange area, the heat transfer temperature difference and the heat transfer coefficient.

Condensers and evaporators work in different forms. A condenser cools and liquefies the medium and releases heat to the outside; an evaporator is a medium that absorbs heat, vaporises and absorbs external heat, i.e. the refrigerant changes from a gaseous state to a liquid state. This is a condensing and exothermic process and its internal pressure is usually very high; the refrigerant in an evaporator changes from a liquid to a gas, an evaporative and heat-absorbing process, and its internal pressure is usually low.

The condenser is one of the main pieces of heat transfer equipment in a refrigeration unit. Its function is to cool and condense the refrigerant superheated vapour discharged from the refrigerator into a refrigerant liquid and to release heat in the cooling medium. Common cooling media are water and air.

The difference between finned condenser and evaporator

The evaporator is the equipment for heat exchange between the refrigerant and the low temperature heat source in the refrigeration system. It is also one of the main heat exchange devices in a refrigeration unit. In the evaporator, the refrigerant liquid evaporates at low pressure and low temperature, absorbs the heat of the cooled medium and becomes refrigerant dry saturated gas or superheated vapour at low temperature and low pressure, thus generating and outputting refrigeration capacity in the refrigeration system. The evaporator is located between the refrigeration machine throttle valve and the main return pipe or between the vapour-liquid separation equipment supply and return pipe and is installed in cold rooms or where cooling or freezing is required.

The evaporator and condenser are important components of the refrigeration equipment. Only through the heat absorption/exothermic reaction of these two components can the refrigeration equipment work properly.

The evaporator, as a heat absorbing element, uses the volatile properties of the liquid low temperature refrigerant at low pressure to transform into steam and absorb the heat of the cooled medium for the purpose of refrigeration. Structurally it can be divided into different types such as box type, tube type and plate type.

As an exothermic component, the condenser can convert the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant compressed by the compressor into a low temperature and high pressure liquid, which radiates heat to the outside world. It is absorbed and released with the evaporator, thus achieving insulation. Structurally it can be divided into different types such as shell and tube, casing, plate and water jet.