International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol.42, No.15, 2943-2953, 1999
Influence of sweeping on dropwise condensation with varying body force and surface subcooling
An experimental work is conducted to study the effect of body forces on dropwise condensation heat flux under controlled subcooling. For this purpose a centrifuge is designed. A gold plated condenser surface, which is placed horizontally on the centrifuge so that horizontal centrifugal force becomes parallel to the condenser surface, is used to obtain dropwise condensation. Experimental data is obtained at various acceleration levels while the coolant temperature is kept constant. To determine the noncondensable effect, data is collected with and without surface suction. Results of the experiments showed an increase in dropwise condensation heat transfer coefficient with an increase in body force. Some noncondensable effect is observed at low acceleration levels (1 and 5 x g). No definite effect of subcooling on heat transfer coefficient is observed. Variations in heat transfer coefficient with different subcoolings are believed to be due to the variation in nucleation site density.