Film condensation of mercury

Abstract

Measurements of vapour-to-surface temperature difference and heat flux for film condensation of mercury on a vertical plane square (side 40mm) nickel-plated copper surface are reported. Thermocouples, accurately located and spaced through the copper condensing block served to measure, by extrapolation, the temperature at the copper-nickel interface and from the temperature gradient, the heat flux. Special care was taken to ensure that the results were not vitiated by the presence in the vapour of non-condensing gases. The results have higher relative precision than other recent heat-transfer measurements for condensation of metals since the present observations were made under conditions (metal used, vapour temperature and condensation rate) for which the vapour-to-surface temperature difference was larger than in the earlier work. The observed vapour-to-surface temperature differences are substantially greater than those given by the Nusselt theory of film condensation. By attributing the excess temperature drop to the vapour-liquid interface, the results are compared with theoretical expressions for interphase matter transfer. As in other recent work, values for the correction factor (or apparent “condensation coefficient”) varied from near unity down to about 0.6. The precision of the present results is such as to reveal a dependence of the correction factor on the condensation rate as well as on the vapour pressure. It was found that both could be satisfactorily correlated by a single dimensionless variable.