Effect of wall subcooling on condensation in a steam-air mixture on a vertical tube

Abstract

In this study, the effects of wall subcooling on the condensation heat transfer in steam-air mixture on a vertical tube was investigated. The effect of wall subcooling on condensation heat transfer was analyzed experimentally and using heat and mass transfer model. The experimental analysis indicated that wall subcooling effect varied depending on the degree of subcooling, i.e., the decrement of condensation heat transfer became less in low subcooling. In addition, the noncondensable gas fraction affected the wall subcooling effect. Such phenomenon was also found in the analysis using heat and mass transfer model. Through analysis using heat and mass transfer model, it was found that the accumulation of noncondensable gas and steam diffusion have competing effects. The former deteriorates and the latter enhances the condensation heat transfer with increasing wall subcooling. In low subcooling condition, both effects have higher rate of change, resulting in the different subcooling effect with that of high subcooling condition. We then developed an empirical correlation of condensation heat transfer over a wide range of wall subcooling; this predicted the experimental results reasonably well, particularly at low subcooling.