Experimental Study on Distribution Characteristics of Condensate Droplets Under Ultrasonic Vibration

Abstract

This paper studied the effect of ultrasound on distribution characteristics of condensate droplets on a vertical metal surface. The surface was made of aluminum and coated with PVC film to obtain durable condensate droplets. Visualization of the condensation process was carried out under the action of ultrasonic vibration with a constant frequency of 20 kHz. The effects of ultrasonic power on surface coverage of condensate droplets, first shedding time of condensate droplets, total number of shedding, heat flux and condensation heat transfer coefficient were analyzed. Furthermore, the mechanism of ultrasonic vibration on accelerating the shedding of condensate droplets was discussed. The results indicated that the shedding of condensate droplets was accelerated by ultrasound compared with those without ultrasound. In addition, the shedding period of condensate droplets was decreased with the increase of ultrasonic power. Contrarily, the heat flux and the condensation heat transfer coefficient were increased with the increase of ultrasonic power. The maximum enhancement ratio of heat transfer coefficient reached 2.67 compared with that without applying ultrasound. This study shows that ultrasound has a good application prospect in strengthening condensation heat transfer, particularly for space applications in microgravity environment.