Effect of Tube Geometry and Curvature on Film Condensation in the Presence of a Noncondensable Gas

Author(s):  
Huijun Li ◽  
Wenping Peng ◽  
Yingguang Liu ◽  
Chao Ma

Based on the double boundary layer theory, a generalized mathematical model was developed to study the distributions of gas film, liquid film, and heat transfer coefficient along the tube surface with different geometries and curvatures for film condensation in the presence of a noncondensable gas. The results show that: (i) for tubes with the same geometry, gas film thickness, and liquid film thickness near the top of the tube decrease with the increasing of curvature and the heat transfer rate increases with it. (ii) For tubes with different geometries, one need to take into account all factors to compare their overall heat transfer rate including gas film thickness, liquid film thickness and the separating area. Besides, the mechanism of the drainage and separation of gas film and liquid film was analyzed in detail. One can make a conclusion that for free convection, gas film never separate since parameter A is always positive, whereas liquid film can separate if parameter B becomes negative. The separating angle of liquid film decreases with the increasing of curvature.

Author(s):  
Yee Lee Yeu ◽  
Alexander Gorin

Film condensation in a porous medium has been receiving increasing attention due to its wide range of heat transfer applications. Some examples of these practical applications are distillation, drying technology, geothermal energy, cooling towers, heat exchangers, and air conditioning. One of the characteristic features of film condensation in porous media is the formation of a two-phase zone separating the liquid film and the vapour zone due to capillary pressure. In this paper, a physico-mathematical model of liquid film condensation on a surface embedded in a porous medium with a two-phase region effect is developed and presented. The model is based on momentum and continuity equations as applied to the liquid film and the two-phase flow region supplemented with the Darcy flow assumption and assumptions on the Leverette J-function and the saturation behaviour near the edge of the liquid film. The developed model allows a simple analytical solution to the problem in distinction to semi-analytical and numerical solutions published by different authors. From the model developed, it shows that the presence of the two-phase region decreases the liquid film thickness. By taking the capillary effects into consideration results in higher heat transfer and condensation rates due to the decrease in the liquid film thickness. The presented model yields good agreement when compared to the theoretical results and experimental data by other authors. The developed model addresses the fundamental concepts of phase transition in porous media which can effectively find applications in many areas.


Author(s):  
Hiroshi Kanno ◽  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Yusuke Saito ◽  
Naoki Shikazono

Heat transfer in micro scale two-phase flow attracts large attention since it can achieve large heat transfer area per density. At high quality, annular flow becomes one of the major flow regimes in micro two-phase flow. Heat is transferred by evaporation or condensation of the liquid film, which are the dominant mechanisms of micro scale heat transfer. Therefore, liquid film thickness is one of the most important parameters in modeling the phenomena. In macro tubes, large numbers of researches have been conducted to investigate the liquid film thickness. However, in micro tubes, quantitative information for the annular liquid film thickness is still limited. In the present study, annular liquid film thickness is measured using a confocal method, which is used in the previous study [1, 2]. Glass tubes with inner diameters of 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mm are used. Degassed water and FC40 are used as working fluids, and the total mass flux is varied from G = 100 to 500 kg/m2s. Liquid film thickness is measured by laser confocal displacement meter (LCDM), and the liquid-gas interface profile is observed by a high-speed camera. Mean liquid film thickness is then plotted against quality for different flow rates and tube diameters. Mean thickness data is compared with the smooth annular film model of Revellin et al. [3]. Annular film model predictions overestimated the experimental values especially at low quality. It is considered that this overestimation is attributed to the disturbances caused by the interface ripples.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
E. Nogueira ◽  
B. D. Dantas ◽  
R. M. Cotta

In a gas-liquid annular two-phase flow one of the main factors influencing the determination of heat transfer rates is the average thickness of the liquid film. A model to accurately represent the heat transfer in such situations has to be able of determining the average liquid film thickness to within a reasonable accuracy. A typical physical aspect in gas-liquid annular flows is the appearance of interface waves, which affect heat, mass and momentum transfers. Existing models implicitly consider the wave effects in the momentum transfer by an empirical correlation for the interfacial friction factor. However, this procedure does not point out the difference between interface waves and the natural turbulent effects of the system. In the present work, the wave and mass transfer effects in the theoretical estimation of average liquid film thickness are analyzed, in comparison to a model that does not explicitly include these effects, as applied to the prediction of heat transfer rates in a thermally developing flow situation.


Author(s):  
Youngbae Han ◽  
Naoki Shikazono ◽  
Nobuhide Kasagi

Flow boiling in micro channels is attracting large attention since it leads to large heat transfer area per unit volume. Generated vapor bubbles in micro channels are elongated due to the restriction of channel wall, and thus slug flow becomes one of the main flow regimes. In slug flow, sequential bubbles are confined by the liquid slugs, and thin liquid film is formed between tube wall and bubble. Liquid film evaporation is one of the main heat transfer mechanisms in micro channels and liquid film thickness is a very important parameter to determine heat transfer coefficient. In the present study, liquid film thickness is measured under flow boiling condition and compared with the correlation proposed under adiabatic condition. The relationship between liquid film thickness and heat transfer coefficient is also investigated. Pyrex glass tube with inner diameter of D = 0.5 mm is used as a test tube. Working fluids are water and ethanol. Laser focus displacement meter is used to measure the liquid film thickness. Initial liquid film thickness under flow boiling condition can be predicted well by the correlation proposed under adiabatic condition. However, measured liquid film thickness becomes thinner than the predicted values in the cases of back flow and short slugs. These are considered to be due to the change of velocity profile in the liquid slug. Under flow boiling condition, liquid film profile fluctuates due to high vapor velocity and shows periodic pattern against time. Frequency of periodic pattern increases with heat flux. At low quality, heat transfer coefficients calculated from measured liquid film thickness show good accordance with heat transfer coefficients obtained directly from wall temperature measurements.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunji Yan ◽  
H. B. Ma

A mathematical model predicting heat transfer and film thickness in thin-film region is developed herein. Utilizing dimensionless analysis, analytical solutions have been obtained for heat flux distribution, total heat transfer rate per unit length, location of the maximum heat flux and ratio of conduction thermal resistance to convection thermal resistance in the evaporating film region. These analytical solutions show that the maximum dimensionless heat flux is constant which is independent of the superheat. Maximum total heat transfer rate is determined for a given film region. The ratio of conduction thermal resistance to convection thermal resistance is a function of dimensionless film thickness. This work will lead to a better understanding of heat transfer and fluid flow occurring in the evaporating film region.


1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 380-387
Author(s):  
Kazuhide TAKAMORI ◽  
Michio MURASE ◽  
Tsuyoshi AIHARA

Author(s):  
J. A. Esfahani ◽  
S. Koohi-Fayegh

The present work investigates an analytical study on the problem of laminar film condensation on a nanosphere. Due to the microscale interaction, the problem is analyzed by taking into account the effects of slip in velocity and jump in temperature. A relation is derived for the liquid film thickness in the form of a nonlinear differential equation which is solved numerically using the fourth order Runge–Kutta method. Finally, the effect of velocity slip and temperature jump on different condensation parameters including the liquid film thickness, velocity and temperature profiles, Nusselt number, and liquid mass flow rate is discussed. It is found that the increase in the velocity slip and temperature jump results in a thinner liquid film and therefore increases the heat transfer coefficient.


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