Condenser contamination removal arrangement

A surface condenser is separated into a plurality of compartments. Each compartment is provided with tray collecting members for collecting condensed steam. If contaminated condensed steam develops in a particular compartment, the normally used condensed steam outlet is no longer used and the contaminated condensed steam is fed through a normally closed condensed steam conduit and out of the surface condenser housing. The contaminated condensed steam from the emergency outlet is then cleaned-up or sent to a waste disposal area. Only tne condensed steam from the compartment containing the contaminated condensed steam is removed from the housing. Thus, it is not necessary to shut down the entire surface condenser operation if contamination occurs only in a local area.

This invention relates to condensers. More particularly, this invention is 
a novel structure for detecting and removing contamination from a surface 
condenser. 
It has generally been assumed that contamination of condensed steam occurs 
in the area where the tubes are connected to the tube sheet. Therefore, 
currently utilized condenser contamination removal arrangements include a 
detector for contamination in the area where the tubes are connected to 
the tube sheet. If contamination is detected in this area, the 
contaminated liquid is then removed from the systems. Such a currently 
utilized arrangement is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,057,602 
granted Oct. 9, 1962 to R. J. Stoker, et al. However, it has been found 
that leakages and the resulting contamination of the condensed steam do 
not necessarily occur at the juncture of the tubes with the tube sheets. 
Defects can occur any where along the length of the tubes within the 
surface condenser. 
The present invention is a new surface condenser contamination removal 
arrangement which includes, among other things, ways to detect the 
occurance of contamination in a localized area of the surface condenser. 
The contamination may occur any place along the length of the tubes within 
the surface condenser and the contamination will be detected. The 
contaminated condensed steam will be removed only from the local area 
where the contamination occurs and therefore the surface condenser need 
not be shut down for repairs immediately upon contamination. 
Briefly described, my new invention is a surface condenser having the usual 
gas inlet and a condensed gas outlet. A plurality of separate compartments 
is provided in the surface condenser. The hollow tubes over which the gas 
is flowed and condensed by cooling liquids flowing through the tubes 
extended through the plurality of separate compartments. Condensed gas 
collectors such as trays are located in the separate compartments for 
collecting the condensed gas. A first normally used liquid conduit extends 
from the condensed gas collectors in each separate compartment to remove 
the condensed gas from each compartment for reuse. A second liquid conduit 
having a normally closed valve also extends from the condensed gas 
collectors. A contamination sensor is located in each of the normally used 
conduits and adapted to sense any contamination in the liquids flowing 
through such conduit. Means are responsive to the sensing of contamination 
by any particular contamination sensor near a particular compartment to 
open the normally closed valve in the second liquid conduit leading from 
the same compartment.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, the surface 
condenser includes a housing 10 in which is provided a gas inlet 12. The 
gas such as steam from a steam turbine is fed into the housing 10 by means 
of the top gas inlet 12 and conducted over the condenser tube bundles 14, 
15, 16, and 17. 
As shown more clearly in FIG. 2, the surface condenser is divided into a 
plurality of separate compartments located below the steam inlet. There 
should be at least one group of aligned compartments; and in the preferred 
embodiment shown there are four groups, two upper groups and two lower 
groups. The upper compartments 18 are separated by tube support plates 19 
with the tube bundle 14 extending through the tube support plates 
longitudinally through the housing 10. The lower compartments 20 are 
separated by tube support plates 22 through which the tube bundles 16 
extend longitudinally through the lower portion of the condenser housing 
10. Similarly, a second upper group (not shown) extends longitudinally 
through the housing. 
A plurality of in-line trays 24 extend below the tube bundles 14. 
Similarly, a plurality of in-line trays 26, 28, and 30 extend below the 
tube bundles 15, 16, and 17, respectively (see FIG. 1). In general, the 
trays form the bottoms of the separate compartments and the condensed 
steam is collected in the trays. 
A first liquid conduit 32 extends from sides of each tray 24. Similarly a 
first liquid conduit 34 (only one visible in FIG. 1) extends from the 
sides of each tray 26. A first liquid conduit 36 with its top located 
above the bottom of the tray 28 extends from each tray 28. A first liquid 
conduit 31 with its top above the bottom of the tray will also extend from 
the trays 30. 
The liquid conduits 32, 31, 34, and 36, all extend downwardly into the hot 
well 38. The condensed steam from the hot well 38 is flowed out of the 
housing 10 through the condensed steam conduits 40 and 42 for re-use. 
A second liquid conduit 44 is connected to the bottom of each of the trays 
24. Similarly, second liquid conduits 46, 48, and 50 are connected to each 
of the trays 26, 28, and 30, respectively. All conduits 44, and all 
conduits 48 are connected to a common internal header 52 extending 
longitudinally within the housing 10. Similarly all conduits 46 and 50 are 
connected to a common internal header 54 extending longitudinally within 
the housing 10. A waste conduit 56 extends from the header 52 to the 
outside of the housing 10; a waste conduit 58 extends from the header 54 
to the outside of the housing 10. 
FIG. 3 shows in more detail the valve structure and electro-pneumatic 
system used to control the removal of contamination from one or more 
separate compartments which may become contaminated. Though FIG. 3 is used 
to explain the system including the trays 26, first liquid conduit 34 and 
second liquid conduit 46, the same type of electro-sensitive system is 
used for each of the other trays and conduits. 
The liquid conduit 46 extending downwardly from the bottom of tray 26 is 
normally closed by an air-operated rubber sleeve valve 60 located in the 
conduit 46 below the bottom of tray 26. The rubber sleeve valve 60 is 
maintained in a closed position by means of air fed to the valve 60 
through air conduit 62, which is controlled by a normally opened solenoid 
valve 64. 
The solenoid valve 64 is connected through electrical wiring 66 to an 
electric contamination sensor 68 extending into the first liquid conduit 
34. 
In operation, condensed steam is fed through the steam inlet 12, over the 
tube bundles, and condensed. The condensed steam will normally be 
collected in the trays below the tube bundles and flow through the first 
liquid conduits extending from the trays, into the hot well, and out of 
the pipes 40 and 42 for re-use. 
In any particular compartment in the condenser becomes contaminated, the 
contamination will be detected by the electric contamination sensor 68 
contained in the normally used liquid conduit, such as liquid conduit 34 
shown in FIG. 3. When contamination is detected by the contamination 
sensor 68, a signal is fed through the wire 66 to solenoid valve 64 to 
close said valve. Air is no longer fed to the rubber sleeve valve 60, and 
the sleeve valve will then open. Thereafter, all liquid condensed steam in 
the particular tray having contamination will flow through the second 
liquid conduit, such as liquid conduit 46 shown in FIG. 3, into the 
appropriate header 52 and 54, and fed outside of the housing 10 through 
the appropriate waste conduit 56 or 58, and thus removed from the steam 
condenser. The remaining part of the steam condenser, which contains no 
contamination remains operating in the usual manner. 
Of course, though the rubber sleeve valve and electro-pneumatic signal 
system has particular advantages, it is possible to use other kinds of 
valves and other kinds of signal systems.