Steam Jet Cooling Systems

Cooling is an expensive process. Ongoing increases in energy costs demand alternatives to traditional systems (mechanical compressors). More and more, flash cooling plants offer an environmentally friendly and economical solution.

GEA has more than fifty years of experience in the design and construction of flash cooling plants.

For each type of fluid the evaporation pressure requires a particular evaporation temperature. A liquid will start to boil if it is subjected to a pressure that is lower than its evaporation pressure. In flash cooling plants, only a small proportion of the medium to be cooled is evaporated (vapor flow [kg/s]). The thermal energy required for this process is taken  from the remaining medium: its temperature drops until the boiling temperature to the lower pressure has been reached.

The vapor flow conveys the thermal energy from the cooled medium into a condenser thereby transferring the thermal energy to another system (heat consumer, re-cooling system etc.).

Basically, there are three different types of steam jet cooling plants:

• Compact design for small capacities
• Column design for medium capacity and large capacities where there is little floor area
• Bridge design for high capacities