SURFACE CONDENSERS. 
By Lutuer D. Lovexin, Esg., MEMBER. 
[Read at the twenty-cighth general meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, held in New 
York, November 11 and 12, 1920.] 
Engineers as a rule are always deeply interested in the conservation of natural 
resources, whether it be in connection with either marine or stationary appliances, 
and while for a long time the stationary field seemed to lead in economies, “and 
justly so on account of the space available,” the marine field has of late received 
its share of attention in various directions since the advent of the turbine. 
In the earlier days, when the old reciprocating engine held full sway, it was 
useless to consider high vacuums as there was no economy to be had by the use of 
a high vacuum on account of the large volumes of steam to be cared for. In other 
words, any vacuum above 25 inches really proved to be a loss rather than a gain 
as one might expect, due to the design of the ordinary reciprocating engine being 
such as to make it incapable of economically expanding the steam further than 
referred to. 
Every engineer knows the great value of expanding steam as far as possible 
providing it can be utilized economically, and the steam turbine has enabled us to 
go the limit in this respect. This has opened up a new field for surface condenser 
designing, and remarkable strides have been made by many engineers in this 
direction during the past few years. 
The stationary engineers of the world, with the wonderful research laboratories 
at their command and the further advantages in being able to make exhaustive 
tests on actual installations, undoubtedly led the way for improving vacuum and 
also for taking care of other losses incident to high vacuum, and the marine engi- 
neer has been, and should be, content to profit by their experience in developing 
means for insuring high vacuum under decidedly different conditions. 
The marine engineer has an unlimited supply of water at his command with 
no cost other than the amount expended for pumping it through the condenser, 
while the stationary engineer has in many cases to pay for the water he uses. This 
has brought about various methods for using the same water over again, but this 
costs money and therefore gives the marine engineer an advantage. 
Other items that the marine engineer has to consider seriously are weight and 
space, so that what might be good engineering for stationary practice in condenser 
design would be impossible for marine practice. I refer more particularly to tubes 
above 7/8 inch in diameter being used; in fact all condenser tubes for marine work 
are practically confined to two sizes, namely, 5/8 inch and 34 inch outside diameter. 
Apart from the design of condensers for steam turbines, marine engineers 
have shown little interest in designs for surface condensers, and even at the present 
