Equatorial Journal of Engineering (2018) 37-42 Journal Homepage: www.erjournals.com ISSN: 0184-7937 Equatorial Journal of Engineering (2018) Page 37 FACTORIAL ANALYSIS OF SURFACE CONDENSER FOR THERMAL POWER PLANT K. E. Madu * & A.E. Uyaelumuo Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli, Anambra, Nigeria. E-mail: kingsleyblack2@gmail.com; tonychristus@gmail.com ABSTRACT The thermal power plants, used to generate power, are designed based on required conditions (like a good quality of steam, pressure and temperature of steam etc.). This paper deals with the factors which reduced the efficiency of the condenser and power plant. In practical situations, actually inlet conditions are not as per the designed conditions, when power plants are installed. There are lots of constraints which conform with the second law of thermodynamics. This tends to reduce or increase output power and heat rate of thermal power plants. Due to these conditions, the designed power and heat rate are never achieved. Variations in the power outputs from plant are always a matter of disputes. So the parameters for power and heat rate are generated for different conditions of condenser pressure, flow rate of water through the condenser, temperature difference. On the basis of site measurement and design data collection performance of the condenser unit were evaluated. These evaluations indicate that if operating conditions vary, then power output and heat rate also vary. KEYWORDS: Flow Rate, Condenser, Power Output, Vacuum, Energy Efficiency. How to cite this article: Madu, K. E. and Uyaelumuo, A. E. (2018). Factorial Analysis of Surface Condenser for Thermal Power Plant. Equatorial Journal of Engineering (2018) 37- 42 1. INTRODUCTION The condenser is a heat transfer device or unit used to condense a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state, typically by cooling it. In doing so, the latent heat is given up by the substance, and will transfer to the condenser coolant. Use of cooling water or surrounding air as the coolant is common in many condensers. The main use of a condenser is to receive exhausted steam from a steam engine or turbine and condense the steam. The benefit being that the energy which would be exhausted to the atmosphere is utilized .A steam condenser generally condenses the steam to a pressure significantly below atmospheric. This allows the turbine or engine to do more work. The condenser also converts the discharge steam back to feed water which is returned to the steam generator or boiler. In the condenser the latent heat of condensation is conducted to the cooling medium flowing through the cooling tubes. In practical situations, when power plants are installed there are lots of constraints. This tends to reduce or increase output power and heat rate of thermal power plants. Due to these conditions, the designed power and heat rate are never achieved. Basically, a condenser is a device where steam condenses and latent heat of evaporation released by the steam is absorbed by cooling water. Thermodynamically, it serves the following purposes with reference to the P-V diagram shown in Figure 1. Firstly, it maintains a very low back pressure on the exhaust side of the turbine. As a result, the steam expands to a greater extent and consequently results in an increase in available heat energy. The shaded area shown in the P-V diagram exhibits the increase in the work obtained by fitting a condenser unit to a non-condensing unit for the same available steam properties. In the P-V diagram, line 4-5 is non-condensing line when the condenser unit is 4’-5’notisapplied condensing line when the