ENRG406 - L1 - Boiling and Condensation

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL & ENERGY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
ENRG 406 Heat Exchanger Design

Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation
Dr. Farooq Saeed
Chapter 10: Boiling and Condensation

(Incropera)
Coverage by Topics
• 10.1 Dimensionless Parameters in Boiling and Condensation
• 10.2 Boiling Modes
• 10.3 Pool Boiling
• 10.4 Pool Boiling Correlations
• 10.6 Condensation: Physical Mechanisms
• 10.7 Laminar Film Condensation on a Vertical Plate
• 10.5 Forced Convection Boiling
• 10.8 Turbulent Film Condensation
• 10.9 Film Condensation on Radial Systems
• 10.10 Condensation in Horizontal Tubes
• 10.11 Drop wise Condensation
9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 2

Introduction: Sensible and Latent Heat
• Sensible heat
Sensible heat is when energy is transferred as heat to an object, changing the
temperature but not its state. If you can measure the temperature of the heat,
it is sensible. A body (solid, liquid or gas) of mass m and specific heat c is
heated to change its temperature from 𝑇 to 𝑇 without changing its state.
Indeed, the volume or the pressure of the body is unchanged. The energy
received by the body responsible for its risen temperature is given by the
relation:
𝑄 𝑚𝐶 𝑇 𝑇 in joules
• Latent heat
In contrast to sensible heat, latent heat is the energy released or absorbed
that changes the state of a body during a constant temperature process. This
process leaves temperature unaffected – it won’t get higher or lower. The
most common forms of latent heat are fusion and vaporization.

Latent Heat: Fusion vs. Vaporization
• Fusion
Fusion is the passage of a body from solid state to liquid state. During the process
of changing phase, the temperature stays the same. Energy is supplied to a solid in
order to melt it and energy is released from a liquid when it freezes. The best
example is an ice cube melting at 32 °F (0°C).
• Vaporization
Vaporization is the passage of a body from the liquid state to the vapor state. If
conditions allow, the formation of vapor bubbles within a liquid, (known as
boiling). Heat must be supplied to a liquid to effect vaporization. If there is not
enough heat, it may come from the system itself as a reduction in temperature. The
atoms or molecules of a liquid are held together by cohesive forces, and these
forces must be overcome in separating the atoms or molecules to form the vapor.
The heat of vaporization is a direct measure of these cohesive forces. The best
example is a pot of water boiling at 212 °F (100°C).

Latent Heat: Different Forms

ℎ𝐿 𝜌𝑔 𝜌 𝜌 𝐿
𝑁𝑢 𝑓 , 𝐽𝑎, 𝑃𝑟, 𝐵𝑜
𝑘 𝜇
where
𝜌𝑔 𝜌 𝜌 𝐿 𝑔𝛽 𝑇 𝑇 𝐿 𝐶 ∆𝑇 𝜇𝐶 𝑔 𝜌 𝜌 𝐿
→ 𝐺𝑟 , 𝐽𝑎 , 𝑃𝑟 , 𝐵𝑜
𝜇 𝜈 ℎ 𝑘 𝜎

Film condensation is generally
characteristic of clean, uncontaminated
surfaces. However, if the surface is
coated with a substance that inhibits
wetting, it is possible to maintain
dropwise condensation.
The drops form in cracks, pits, and

cavities on the surface and may grow and
coalesce through continued condensation.
Typically, more than 90% of the surface

is covered by drops, ranging from a few
micrometers in diameter to groups visible
to the naked eye.
The droplets flow from the surface due to the action of gravity. Film and dropwise condensation of
steam on a vertical copper surface are shown in Figure 10.10. A thin coating of cupric oleate was applied
to the left-hand portion of the surface to promote the dropwise condensation. A thermocouple probe of 1-
mm diameter extends across the photograph

In either case, the condensate provides a
resistance to heat transfer between the
vapor and the surface. Because this
resistance increases with condensate
thickness, which increases in the flow
direction, it is desirable to use short
vertical surfaces or horizontal cylinders in
situations involving film condensation.
Most condensers therefore consist of

horizontal tube bundles through which a
liquid coolant flows and around which
the vapor to be condensed is circulated.
In terms of maintaining high condensation and heat transfer rates, droplet formation is superior to film
formation. Drops of less than 100-m diameter provide highest condensation and heat transfer rates. It
is therefore common practice to use surface coatings that inhibit wetting, and hence stimulate dropwise
condensation. Silicones, Teflon, and an assortment of waxes and fatty acids are often used for this
purpose.

Assumptions:
1. Laminar flow and constant properties for the liquid film.
2. The gas is assumed to be a pure vapor and at a uniform
temperature equal to Tsat. With no temperature gradient in the
vapor, heat transfer to the liquid–vapor interface can occur only
by condensation at the interface and not by conduction from the
vapor.
3. The shear stress at the liquid–vapor interface is assumed to be
negligible, in which case 𝑢/𝑦| 0. With this assumption and
the foregoing assumption of a uniform vapor temperature, there
is no need to consider the vapor velocity or thermal boundary
layers shown in Figure 10.11a. Thermal
4. Momentum and energy transfer by advection in the
condensate film are assumed to be negligible. This assumption is And
reasonable by virtue of the low velocities associated with the
film. It follows that heat transfer across the film occurs only by Velocity
conduction, in which case the liquid temperature distribution is boundary
linear. layers

To account for thermal advection effects, a modified latent heat of vaporization is
ℎ ℎ 0.68𝑐 𝑇 𝑇)
which in terms of Jacob number is,
𝐶 ∆𝑇
ℎ ℎ 1 0.68 𝐽𝑎 , 𝐽𝑎 (10.27)
ℎ
The average Nusselt number then has the form

Graphical representation of the foregoing correlations is provided in Figure 10.13, and the trends
have been verified experimentally for water over the range 1 < Re < 7200. All properties are
evaluated as for laminar film condensation.

An alternate set of equations can be obtained by eliminating Re and by defining a non-dimensional
parameter P
and where Re is,
The average Nusselt numbers in terms of P is then

For a laminar film condensation on the outer surface of a sphere or a horizontal tube (Figures 10.14a,
b), the average Nusselt number has the form
where C = 0.826 for the sphere and 0.729 for the tube. The properties are evaluated as explained below
Eq. 10.32.
When a liquid–vapor interface is curved, pressure differences
result across the interface by the effects of surface tension. This
pressure difference is described by the Young Laplace equation,
which for a 2D system may be written as
For the unfinned tube of Figure 10.14b, the interface curvature is

relatively large, 𝑟 𝐷/2, except where the liquid sheet departs
from the bottom of the tube. Hence, 𝑝 𝑝 along nearly the
entire liquid–vapor interface, and the surface tension does not
influence the condensation rate.

Condensation on a tube with annular fins is shown
in Figure 10.15. In this case, the sharp corners of the
finned tube lead to large variations in the liquid–
vapor interface curvature, and surface tension effects
can be important.
For the finned tube, surface tension forces tend to
increase heat transfer rates near the fin tips by
reducing the film thickness and decrease heat
transfer rates in the inter-fin region by retaining
condensate.
Just as the liquid layer is thicker on the bottom of a
sphere (Figure 10.14a) or unfinned horizontal tube
(Figure 10.14b), there is more retained condensate
on the underside of the horizontal finned tube
Heat transfer rates for the finned tube qft may be related to those for a corresponding unfinned tube
quft by an enhancement ratio ft = qft/quft. Small fins, relative to those commonly used for single-phase
convection, promote a highly curved liquid surface and, in turn, can enhance heat transfer
significantly. The small fins can be fabricated by, for example, removing material from a tube of
radius r2 as shown in Figure 10.15.
Minimum enhancement occurs when condensate is retained
in the entire inter-fin region and can be estimated by
Actual enhancements exceed ft,min and have been reported to

be in the range 2 ≤ ft ≤ 4 for water.
For vertically aligned tubes with a continuous condensate

sheet, as shown in Figure 10.14c, the heat transfer rate
associated with the lower tubes is less than that of the top tube
because the films on the lower tubes are thicker than on the
top tube. For a vertical tier of N horizontal unfinned tubes the
array-averaged convection coefficient (over all N tubes) is
where ℎ is the convection heat transfer coefficient for the

top tube given by Equation 10.46 and n = –1/6

The tube bank of a steam condenser consists of a square array of 400 tubes, each of diameter D = 2r1
= 6 mm.
1. If horizontal, unfinned tubes are exposed to saturated steam at a pressure of p = 0.15 bar and the
tube surface is maintained at Ts = 25°C, what is the rate at which steam is condensed per unit length
of the tube bank?
2. If annular fins of height h = r2 – r1 = 1 mm, thickness t = 1 mm, and pitch S = 2 mm are added,
determine the minimum condensation rate per unit length of tubing.
Known: Configuration and surface

temperature of unfinned and finned
condenser tubes exposed to saturated
steam at 0.15 bar.
Find:
1. Condensation rate per unit length of
unfinned tubing.
2. Minimum condensation rate per unit
length of finned tubing

The array-averaged convection coefficient is
The condensation rate per unit length of tubing, from Eq. 10.34, is
.
20 20 0.601 kg/sꞏm
Therefore, the minimum condensation rate for the finned tubes is

Condensers used for refrigeration and air-conditioning systems generally involve vapor condensation
inside horizontal or vertical tubes. Conditions within the tube depend strongly on the velocity of the
vapor flowing through the tube, the mass fraction of vapor X, which decreases along the tube as
condensation occurs, and the fluid properties.
At low vapor velocities, condensation in a horizontal tube occurs in the

upper regions of the tube wall and flows downward to a larger pool of
liquid, Figure 10.16a. In turn, the liquid pool is propelled down the length
of the tube by shear forces imparted by the flowing vapor.
Low vapor velocities are characterized by Rev,i = (vum,vD/v) < 35,000
where i refers to the tube inlet, heat transfer occurs predominantly

through the falling condensate film.
For Nusselt number estimate, use Eq. 10.46 with C = 0.555 and ℎ ℎ 0.375𝑐 , 𝑇 𝑇 ).

At high vapor velocities, the two-phase flow becomes turbulent and
annular (Figure 10.16b). The vapor occupies the core of the annulus,
which diminishes in diameter as the thickness of the outer condensate
layer increases in the flow direction. Local heat transfer coefficient h
can be estimated using the empirical correlation
where is the mass fraction of

vapor in the fluid, and Xtt is the Martinelli parameter corresponding to
the existence of turbulent flow in both the liquid and vapor phases.
Condensation rates can be increased by adding small fins to the

interior of the tube. Microfin tubes are typically made of copper with
triangular or trapezoidal-shaped fins of height 0.1 to 0.25 mm as shown
in Figure 10.16c. Heat transfer is increased due to the increase in the
surface area and also by turbulence induced by the fin structure and
surface tension effects. The fins are typically arranged in a helical or
herringbone pattern down the tube length, with heat transfer rates
enhanced by 50 to 180%
Homework Problems for Chapter # 10
Problem 10.4
Problem 10.5
Problem 10.6
Problem 10.10
Problem 10.12
Problem 10.24
Problem 10.32
Problem 10.44
Problem 10.70

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COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL & ENERGY ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ENRG 406 Heat Exchanger Design

Chapter 10: Boiling and Condensation

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 2

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 3

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 4

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 5

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 7

The drops form in cracks, pits, and

Typically, more than 90% of the surface

9/4/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 24

Most condensers therefore consist of

9/4/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 25

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 27

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 28

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 32

and where Re is,

The average Nusselt numbers in terms of P is then

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 33

For the unfinned tube of Figure 10.14b, the interface curvature is

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 37

Actual enhancements exceed ft,min and have been reported to

For vertically aligned tubes with a continuous condensate

where ℎ is the convection heat transfer coefficient for the

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 39

Known: Configuration and surface

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 40

Therefore, the minimum condensation rate for the finned tubes is

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 41

At low vapor velocities, condensation in a horizontal tube occurs in the

Low vapor velocities are characterized by Rev,i = (vum,vD/v) < 35,000

where i refers to the tube inlet, heat transfer occurs predominantly

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 43

where is the mass fraction of

Condensation rates can be increased by adding small fins to the

9/3/2023 ENRG 406 Lecture 1: Boiling and Condensation - FS 46

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