University of Western Ontario

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Heat Transfer Operations

CBE 322a

2004-2005
 Condensation, Boiling
 Condensation and boiling are convective heat
transfer processes with the change of phase of a
fluid.
 These processes occur in many industries e.g.
nuclear or fossil fueled power plant, refineries,
water purification, … .
 In these processes latent heat effect
associated with the phase change are
significant.
 Condensation requires that the latent heat or
enthalpy of phase change be removed by a
coolant (heat is transferred to the solid surface)
 Condensation, Boiling
 In boiling processes the enthalpy of phase
change is supplied from an energy source through
a solid surface.

 Due to the phase change, the heat transfer to or

from the liquid occur without influencing the
temperature significantly.
 Large heat transfer rates may be achieved with
small temperature differences.
 Condensation, Boiling
 In addition to the latent heat, two other
parameters influence these processes,
 surface tension between the fluid and
vapor interface (bubble formation)
 density difference between the two
phases (induces buoyancy force)

 Because of the combined latent heat and

buoyancy driven flow effects, heat transfer
coefficient in condensation and boiling
processes are generally larger than those of
convective heat transfer without phase change.
 Condensation
 Condensation may occur from a pure
vapor or a mixture of condensable and non-
condensable gases.
 There are two distinct modes of
condensation:
 Film condensation
 Dropwise condensation

 Film condensation occurs on wettable

walls and the condensate move due to
gravity
 Condensation
 in film condensation a thin layer of the
condensate covers the surface and the film
thickness gradually increases (laminar flow,
wavy flow, turbulent flow) to be explained in class

 in dropwise condensation, the

condensate does not wet the wall (surface),
as the surface is dirty or covered with a
non-wetting agent
 very small droplets nucleate at small pits
or other imperfections on the surface and
grow in size rapidly to be explained in class
 Condensation
 droplets may increase in size due to
coalescence
 most of the heat transfer is through droplets of
100 micron or less

 Heat transfer coefficient in dropwise

condensation is much larger than film
condensation. More details in class

 In general during the operation both type occur

and film condensation is always assumed in design
to be on the safe side.
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 Assume a vertical wettable
wall (flat plate or a pipe wall) at
temperature Tw is exposed to
a saturated vapor at Tsat > Tw
 The vapor will continuously
condense on the wall and form
a thin layer of liquid
 Assume that the
condensation rate is not large
enough to create a wavy flow,
therefore a downward laminar
flow occur due to gravity.
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 It can be shown that velocity profile in the
laminar flow on the wall is parabolic where
the velocity is maximum at the film surface*.

(  l   v ) g 2  y 1 y 2
u   2 (  ) 
2 l  

 The mass flow rate per unit width of the

film is ,

g (  l   v )
3
    l udy 
0
3 l
* These equations can be easily derived by writing momentum balance on
a differential element in “y” direction (see previous page).
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 In the study of heat transfer for this case it
should be emphasized that the film velocity is
relatively low and also the temperature
gradient in “x” direction is negligible.
 at steady state condition for the elemental
control volume shown below
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 the heat conducted out at “y” should be
equal to heat conducted in at “y + y” ;
T T  T
2
 kl A   kl A 0
y y
y y y y 2

B.C. 1, at y =  T = Tsat
B.C. 1, at y = 0 T = Tw
The temperature distribution is:
y
T  Tw  ( Tsat  Tw )

Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 the temperature profile is linear and the
heat flux can be estimated by applying
Fourier’s law of heat conduction
T Q kl
 kl   ( Tsat  Tw )
y w
A 

 the local heat transfer coefficient is defined

as heat flux divided by the temperature
difference across the film:

k l ( T / y )w k l
h 
( Tsat  Tw ) 
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 It can be shown that the film thickness for
this case is equal to:
1/ 4
 4 xk l ( Tsat  Tw ) l 
  
 h fg g (  l   v ) 
 By substituting in the previous equation,
the heat transfer coefficient is:
1/ 4
 h fg g (  l   v )k
l
3

h 
 4 x ( Tsat  Tw ) l 
 Film thickness is proportional to x1/4,
however the heat transfer coefficient is
proportional to x-1/4 and (Tsat – Tw)-1/4
Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 The average heat transfer coefficient for a
wall of height L is obtained by:
1/ 4
1
L
4  h fg g (  l   v )k 3

  hdx  hx  L  0.943 
l
have 
L0 3  L( Tsat  Tw ) l 

 For liquids with low latent heat of

vaporization, subcooling may occur. To take
this effect into consideration, latent heat may
be replaced by modified latent heat.

hfg  h fg  0.35 c pl ( Tsat  Tw )

Condensation (laminar film on a vertical wall)
 Due to change in temperature the liquid
properties should be obtained at temperature
Tr = Tw +  (Tsat - Tw )

Fluid Sat. temperature K Temp. difference K 

Water
280-380 1-30 0.33

Ammonia
270-320 20 0.61

Ethyl alcohol
300-350 5-20 0.12

Glycerol
330 20 0.32

Propane
350-370 20 1.00
Condensation (laminar film on a horizontal tube)

 Condensation may take place on a bank of

horizontal tubes.
 Shell and tube condensers are the most
common type in process industries e.g.
power plants.
 It may also
occur on a sphere
Condensation (laminar film on a horizontal tube)

 Shear force and buoyancy force are the

two major forces acting on a differential
element inside the condensate layer
Momentum balance is

u 2
 l 2  (  l   v ) gSin  0
y
 The energy balance will be
the same as in vertical plate

 2T
0
y 2
Condensation (laminar film on a horizontal tube)

 Similar to vertical plate, the mass flow rate

is;
(  l   v ) g 3 Sin
 
3 l
 The film Reynolds number is
4  4 (  l   v ) g 3 Sin
Re  
l 3  l l2
Note: Reynolds number is a function of film
thickness and angle  which depend on the
location on the cylinder/pipe
Condensation (laminar film on a horizontal tube)

 It can be shown that average heat transfer

coefficient is;
1/ 4
 (  l   v ) gh fg kl
3

have  C 
  l D( Tsat  Tw ) 
 where “C” is a constant; C = 0.826 for
sphere and C = 0.728 for cylinder/pipe
 In general, condensation occur on a large
bundle of horizontal pipes, dripping from one
to the next. For “N” pipes arranged vertically:
1/ 4
 (  l   v ) gh fg k l
3

have  0.728  
 N l D( Tsat  Tw ) 