A surface condenser is a water-cooled shell and tube heat exchanger installed to condense exhaust steam from a steam turbine in thermal power stations. These condensers are heat exchangers which convert steam from its gaseous to its liquid state at a pressure below atmospheric pressure. Where cooling water is in short supply, an air-cooled condenser is often used. An air-cooled condenser is however, significantly more expensive and cannot achieve as low of a steam turbine exhaust pressure (and temperature) as a water-cooled surface condenser.
Surface condensers are also used in applications and industries other than the condensing of steam turbine exhaust in power plants.
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