CONDENSATION

Prabal Talukdar
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical
Engineering
IIT Delhi
E-mail: prabal@mech.iitd.ac.in

Condensation

When a vapor is exposed to a surface

f
at a
temperature below Tsat, condensation in
the form of a liquid film or individual
d l t occurs on th
droplets
the surface.
f
Condensation can also occur on the free
surface of a liquid or even in a gas other
than solid surfaces
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Film vs. Dropwise

Infilmcondensation,thesurfaceis
bl k d b li id fil
blanketedbyaliquidfilmofincreasing
fi
i
thickness,andthisliquidwall
betweensolidsurfaceandthevapor
servesasaresistancetoheattransfer.
Indropwisecondensation,however,
the droplets slide down when they
thedropletsslidedownwhenthey
reachacertainsize,clearingthe
surfaceandexposingittovapor.There
isnoliquidfilminthiscasetoresist
heattransfer.
Asaresult,heattransferratesare
As a result heat transfer rates are
morethan10timeslargerindropwise
condensation.
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Film Condensation on
a Vertical Plate
heat transfer in
condensation also depends
on whether the condensate
flow is laminar or turbulent
D h l Vl
Re =
l
4A c
Dh =
= 4
P
= film thickness
at the lowest part of the flow

&
D h l Vl 4m
Re =
=
l
p l
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Hydraulic Diameter

Modified Latent Heat of Vaporization:

h*fg = h fg + 0.68C pl (Tsat Ts ) + C pv (Tv Tsat )

With these considerations, the rate of heat transfer can
be expressed as

*
&
&
Q
=
hA
(
T

T
)
=
m
h
condenser
s s
sat
fg
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

&
D h l Vl 4m
Re =
=
l
p l

Re =

&
4Q
conden
p l h *fg

4A s h (Tsat Ts )
p l h *fg

the properties of the liquid should be evaluated at

the film temperature Tf = (Tsat + Ts)/2, which is
approximately the average temperature of the liquid

FlowRegimes

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Heat Transfer Correlations

for Film Condensation

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Assumptions:
1.BothTsandTsat,are
maintainedconstant
andthetemperature
across the liquid film
acrosstheliquidfilm
varieslinearly.
2.Heattransferacross
theliquidfilmisbypure
conduction.
conduction
3.Thevelocityofthe
vaporislow(orzero)so
thatitexertsnodragon
thecondensate(no
h
d
(
viscousshearonthe
liquidvaporinterface).
4.Theflowofthe
condensateislaminar
andthepropertiesof
theliquidareconstant.
5. The acceleration of
5.Theaccelerationof
thecondensatelayeris
negligible.
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Then Newtons second law of motion for the volume

element in the vertical x-direction can be written as

Fx = ma x = 0
Weight = Viscous shear force + Buoyancy Force

l g ( y)(bdx ) = l

du
(bdx ) + v g ( y)(bdx )
dy

Canceling the plate width b and solving for du/dy

gives

du g (l v )( y)
=
dy
l

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Integrating from y = 0 where u = 0 (because of the noslip boundary condition) to y = y where u = u(y) gives

g (l v )
y 2
u ( y) =
y

2
l

The mass flow rate of the condensate at a location x,

where the boundary layer thickness is , is determined
from

gbl (l v )3
& ( x ) = l u ( y)dA = u ( y)bdy =
m
3 l
A
y =0

whose derivative with respect to x is

& gbl (l v ) 2 d
dm
=
dx
l
dx

This represents the

rate of condensation of
vapor over a vertical
distance dx

The rate
Th
t off heat
h t transfer
t
f from
f
the
th vapor to
t the
th plate
l t
through the liquid film is simply equal to the heat
released as the vapor is condensed and is expressed as
Tsat Ts
& = h dm
&
dQ
=
k
(
bdx
)
fg
l

& k l b Tsat Ts
dm
=
P.Talukdar/Mech
dx
h fg
IITD

 l k l (Tsat Ts )
dx
d =
gl (l v )h fg
3

Integrating from x = 0 where = 0 (the top of the

plate) to x = x where = (x),
(x) the liquid film
thickness at any location x is determined to be
1/ 4

4 l k l (Tsat Ts ) x
( x ) =

gl (l v )h fg

The heat transfer rate from the vapor to the plate

at a location x can be expressed as

T sat Ts
q& x = h x (T sat Ts ) = k l

kl
1/ 4
hx =
3
gl (l v )h fg k l
( x )
h(x) =

4 l (Tsat Ts ) x
h = h ave
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

1L
4
= h x dx = h x = L
L0
3
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Including the effects of the nonlinear

temperature profile in the liquid film and the
cooling of the liquid below the saturation
temperature, the average h for a vertical plate of
length L is:
1/ 4

h vertical

gl (l v )h *fg k 3l
= 0.943

(T Ts )L
l sat

h vertical = h ave

W/m2 C, 0 < Re < 30

4
= h x =L
3

kl
kl
4k l
h x =L =
( L ) =
=
( L )
h x = L 3h vertical
1/ 4

4 l k l (Tsat Ts ) x
( x ) =

)
h

l l
v fg

gbl (l v )3 gbll 3
& (x) =
m
=
3 l
3 l
Re =

&
4m
=
p l

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

4gl2
3 l2

kl

h x =L

1/ 4

4 l k l (Tsat Ts ) x
=

h
l l fg

v << l

4g
kl

= 2
3 l 3h vertical / 4

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Then the heat transfer coefficient hvert in

terms of Re becomes:

All properties of the liquid are to be

evaluated at the film temperature
Tf = (Tsat + Ts)/2. The hfg and v are to be
evaluated at the saturation temperature
Tsat.

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

12

Wavy
y Laminar Flow
The increase in heat transfer due to the wave
effect is, on average, about 20 percent, but it can
exceed 50 percent
percent.
The exact amount of enhancement depends on
the Reynolds number

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

13

Turbulent Flow
At a Reynolds number of about 1800, the
condensate flow becomes turbulent.
Several empirical relations of varying degrees of
complexity
l it are proposed
d ffor th
the h
heatt ttransfer
f
coefficient for turbulent flow.

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

Nondimensionalised h for vertical plates

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Inclined Plates
This approximation gives
satisfactory results
especially for 60
60.

h inclined = h vertical (cos )1 / 4

This equation is developed for laminar flow of
condensate, but it can also be used for wavy
laminar flows as an approximation

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

15

Vertical
Tube/Horizontal Tubes
& Spheres
Relations for vertical plates can also be used to
calculate the average heat transfer coefficient for
laminar film condensation on the outer surfaces of
vertical tubes provided that the tube diameter is
large relative to the thickness of the liquid film
Nusselt s analysis of film condensation on vertical
Nusselts
plates can also be extended to horizontal tubes
and spheres

Tube = 0.729, Sphere = 0.815

A comparison of the heat transfer coefficient relations for
a vertical tube of height L and a horizontal tube of
diameter D yields

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

16

 Settinghvertical =hhorizontal gives

L=(1.29)4 D=2.77D,which
impliesthatforatubewhose
lengthis2.77timesitsdiameter,
theaverageheattransfer
coefficient for laminar film
coefficientforlaminarfilm
condensationwillbethesame
p
whetherthetubeispositioned
horizontallyorvertically
ForL>2.77D,theheattransfer
coefficientwillbehigherinthe
horizontalposition
Thatisthereasonwhythetubes
areplacedhorizontally ina
condenser
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

17

Effect of Vapor
Velocity
If the
h vapor fl
flows downward
d
d : increases
i
the
h
average velocity of the liquid and thus
decrease the film thickness. This, in turn, will
d
decrease
the
th thermal
th
l resistance
it
off the
th liquid
li id
film and thus increase heat transfer

Upward vapor flow has

the opposite effects:
thickens the liquid film,
and thus decreases heat
transfer

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

18

Film Condensation
inside Horizontal Tubes
Most condensation processes
encountered in refrigeration and airconditioning applications, however,
involve condensation on the inner
surfaces of horizontal or vertical tubes

For low vapor velocities:

P.Talukdar/MechIITD

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Dropwise
Condensation
heattransfer
coefficientscan
be more than 10
bemorethan10
timeslargerthan
filmcondensation

Dropwisecondensation,characterizedby
countlessdropletsofvaryingdiameterson
thecondensingsurfaceinsteadofa
continuousliquidfilm,isoneofthemost
effectivemechanismsofheattransfer,and
extremelylargeheattransfercoefficientscan
beachievedwiththismechanism
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

20

Heat Pipe

A heat pipe is a simple device with no moving

parts that can transfer large quantities of heat
over fairly large distances essentially at a
constant temperature without requiring any
power input
A heat pipe is basically a sealed slender tube
containing a wick structure lined on the inner
surface and a small amount of fluid such as
water at the saturated state.
P.Talukdar/MechIITD

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