Condensation on Rotating Axisymmetric Curved Bodies

Abstract

Laminar film condensation on an axisymmetric generally curved rotating body is analysed. With the body rotating about a vertical axis, the condensate film drains under the combined action of gravitational and rotational accelerations. An exact integral equation is found for film thickness in terms of body shape, fluid properties, and rotational parameters. This shows the effect of curvature to be important. The theory was tested by experiments with steam condensing on a concave body generated by a 90° circular arc. Comparison of experimental results with predictions from the general theory developed are generally good, especially at high rotational speeds. It is shown that the inclusion of the effect of curvature produces a markedly better prediction than that from an analysis treating the body as a succession of truncated conical elements.