Theoretical Analysis of Moisture Condensation on a Cold Heat Sink

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical model of the moisture condensation of ambient air flowing over a cold heat sink. When ambient air flows over a cold heat sink, three-dimensional conservation equations of momentum, energy, and mass should be used to predict the heat and mass transfer of ambient air to determine the condensation rate. In this paper, a simplified model is developed to predict moisture condensation from ambient air flowing over a cold heat sink under the boundary condition of a constant baseplate temperature. The model can be used to predict effects of inlet velocity, relative humidity, incoming flow temperature, and fin geometry. The model demonstrates that the increasing inlet velocity and relative humidity could help to enhance the condensation rate. The model can also be used to reveal the variation of condensation rate over cold fins in terms of fin geometry parameters. The significance of this model is that it can be readily applied to predict mass and heat transfer behavior in phase change processes incurred from ambient air flowing over complex geometries of cold surfaces.