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
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 Film vs. Dropwise
• In film condensation, the surface is 
bl k d b li id fil
blanketed by a liquid film of increasing 
fi i
thickness, and this “liquid wall” 
between solid surface and the vapor 
serves as a resistance to heat transfer. 
• In dropwise condensation, however, 
the droplets slide down when they
the droplets slide down when they 
reach a certain size, clearing the 
surface and exposing it to vapor. There 
is no liquid film in this case to resist 
heat transfer. 
• As a result, heat transfer rates are 
As a result heat transfer rates are
more than 10 times larger in dropwise 
condensation. 

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 Film Condensation on
a Vertical Plate
heat transfer in
condensation also depends
on whether the condensate
flow is laminar or turbulent

D h ρl Vl
Re =
μl
4A c
Dh = = 4δ
P

δ = film thickness
at the lowest part of the flow

D h ρl Vl 4m &
Re = =
μl pμ l
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 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 condenser = hA (
s sT − Tsat ) = m
& h fg
D h ρl Vl 4m &
P.Talukdar/Mech- Re = =
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 &
4Q 4A s h (Tsat − Ts )
conden
Re = =
pμ l h *fg pμ 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

Flow Regimes

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 Heat Transfer Correlations
for Film Condensation
Assumptions:
1. Both Ts and Tsat, are 
maintained constant 
and the temperature 
across the liquid film
across the liquid film 
varies linearly.
2. Heat transfer across 
the liquid film is by pure 
conduction.
conduction
3. The velocity of the 
vapor is low (or zero) so 
that it exerts no drag on 
the condensate (no 
h d (
viscous shear on the 
liquid–vapor interface).
4. The flow of the 
condensate is laminar 
and the properties of 
the liquid are constant.
5. The acceleration of
5. The acceleration of 
the condensate layer is 
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Then Newton’s 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

du
ρl g (δ − y)(bdx ) = μ l (bdx ) + ρ v g (δ − y)(bdx )
dy

Canceling the plate width b and solving for du/dy

gives
du g (ρl − ρ v )(δ − y)
=
dy μl
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 Integrating from y = 0 where u = 0 (because of the no-
slip boundary condition) to y = y where u = u(y) gives

g (ρl − ρ v ) ⎛⎜ y 2 ⎞⎟
u ( y) = ⎜ yδ − ⎟
μl ⎝ 2 ⎠

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

where the boundary layer thickness is δ , is determined
from

δ gbρl (ρl − ρ v )δ3

& ( x ) = ∫ ρl u ( y)dA = ∫ u ( y)bdy =
m
A y =0 3μ l

whose derivative with respect to x is

& gbρl (ρl − ρ v )δ 2 dδ

dm
This represents the
= rate of condensation of
dx μl dx 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
& = h dm Tsat − Ts
dQ fg & = k l ( bdx )
δ
& k l b Tsat − Ts
dm
=
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dx h fg δ 9
 3 μ l k l (Tsat − Ts )
δ dδ = dx
gρl (ρl − ρ v )h fg
Integrating from x = 0 where δ = 0 (the top of the
plate) to x = x where δ = δ (x),
(x) the liquid film
thickness at any location x is determined to be

1/ 4
⎡ 4μ l k l (Tsat − Ts ) x ⎤
δ( x ) = ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ gρl (ρl − ρ 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
δ
kl
→ hx = 1/ 4
δ( x ) ⎡ gρl (ρl − ρ v )h fg k l ⎤
3
h(x) = ⎢ ⎥
⎢⎣ 4μ l (Tsat − Ts ) x ⎥⎦
1L 4
h = h ave = ∫ h x dx = h x = L
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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
⎡ gρl (ρl − ρ v )h *fg k 3l ⎤
h vertical = 0.943⎢ ⎥
μ (T − Ts )L ⎥
⎣⎢ l sat ⎦
W/m2 °C, 0 < Re < 30
4
h vertical = h ave = h x =L
3
kl kl 4k l
h x =L = → δ( L ) = =
δ( L ) h x = L 3h vertical
1/ 4 1/ 4
⎡ 4μ l k l (Tsat − Ts ) x ⎤ ⎡ 4μ l k l (Tsat − Ts ) x ⎤
δ( x ) = ⎢ ⎥ =⎢ ⎥
g
⎢⎣ l lρ (ρ − ρ ) h
v fg ⎦ ⎥ ⎣⎢ g ρ ρ h
l l fg ⎦⎥
ρ v << ρl
gbρl (ρl − ρ v )δ3 gbρlρl δ3
& (x) =
m =
3μ l 3μ l
3 3
4m& 4gρl2 ⎛ kl ⎞ 4g ⎛ kl ⎞
Re = = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ = 2 ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
pμ l 3μ l2 ⎝ h x =L ⎠ 3ν 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 ρv are to be
evaluated at the saturation temperature
Tsat.

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 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

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 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/Mech- Nondimensionalised h for vertical plates 14

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 Inclined Plates

This approximation gives

satisfactory results
especially for θ ≤ 6060°.

h inclined = h vertical (cos θ)1 / 4

This equation is developed for laminar flow of

condensate, but it can also be used for wavy
laminar flows as an approximation

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 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

Nusselt’s
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

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• Setting hvertical = hhorizontal gives 
L = (1.29)4 D  = 2.77D, which 
implies that for a tube whose 
length is 2.77 times its diameter, 
the average heat transfer 
coefficient for laminar film
coefficient for laminar film 
condensation will be the same 
p
whether the tube is positioned 
horizontally or vertically
• For L > 2.77D, the heat transfer 
coefficient will be higher in the 
horizontal position
• That is the reason why the tubes 
are placed horizontally in a 
condenser
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 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

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

• For low vapor velocities:

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 Dropwise
Condensation
heat transfer 
coefficients can
be more than 10
be more than 10 
times larger than 
film condensation 

• Dropwise condensation, characterized by 
countless droplets of varying diameters on 
the condensing surface instead of a 
continuous liquid film, is one of the most 
effective mechanisms of heat transfer, and 
extremely large heat transfer coefficients can 
be achieved with this mechanism

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 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.
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