Heat and Mass Transfer on a Cylinder Surface in Cross Flow Under Supersaturated Frosting Conditions

Abstract

In this paper a semi-empirical model describing heat and mass transfer on a cylinder surface in humid air cross flow under supersaturated frosting conditions is presented. The lack of psychrometric data in the supersaturated zone of the psychrometric chart has historically impeded the ability of researchers to accurately predict heat and mass transfer in supersaturated air. The work described in this paper has been partially made possible by developing a systematic procedure to compute the properties of supersaturated moist air, especially in the low temperature zone of the psychrometric chart. Development of such a capability will allow us to predict the amount of frost collected on a coil, the frost deposition and coil heat transfer rates, frost thickness and frost surface temperature, and other important coil frost parameters under supersaturated conditions.