From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Interim report on tests conducted on leading edge condensers.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 179b\2\ img249 | |
| Date | 20th December 1932 guessed | |
| INTERIM REPORT ON TESTS OF LEADING EDGE CONDENSERS. Object of Tests. To find out whether indirect cooling could be used for condensers and to find the best shapes and thicknesses of fins to use on leading edge condensers. Results of Tests To Date. It has been found that indirect cooling could be used up to 3 or 4 times the amount of direct cooling at present obtained with a leading edge condenser without seriously lowering the temperature of the condenser surface and thereby lowering the efficiency. One condenser tested with fins (as drawing No.1 or 1 B No.202) has proved to have a cooling capacity about 2 1/2 times as great as that of a plain condenser and tests are proceeding to determine the temperature curves in the fins. Condensers with other arrangements of fins including systems of fins enclosed in a smooth cover, will also be tested. Tests. Tests were first carried out to ascertain the temperatures of the metal surfaces of condensers for different rates of heat flow. The results of this part of the test are shown in curve No.2. This shows that for the ordinary plain type leading edge condenser the temperature of the surface is between 90°C and 95°C. and that a large amount of indirect cooling could be obtained from fins without seriously reducing the temperature of the metal surface. For this test the steam was condensed in a watercooled brass cylinder (6" circumference x 12" active length) the ends being heat insulated from the water. Fins were sweated on radially to assist in cooling for large heat flows. 22 S.W.G. brass was used throughout. The condenser was placed axially in a 5 gallon drum with open top, the cooling water in the drum being vigorously stirred by blowing air into the bottom of the drum. The condensate drain from the condenser was straight down through the bottom of the drum, the time for a flow of 1/2 pt. being clocked. | ||