Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
OF STEAM-AIR MIXTURES
FILM AND DROPWISE CONDENSATION
OF STEAM-AIR MIXTURES
By
Supplement.
INDE X
SUMMARY 1
INTRODUCTION 2
HISTORICAL REVIEW 3
THEORETICAL DISCUSSION 11
( 1) Fundamentals of He at Transfer 11
( d) Promoter Action 23
The Condenser 28
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE 32
LIST OF SYMBOLS 57
REFERENCES 59
APP.ENDIX 62
1-
SUMMARY
INTRODU'ION
the accumulation of air in the steam. This creatly lowers its value,
and in sorne cases the steam is simply vented to the atmosphere after
serving its original purpose.
With certain types of surface active agents, the condensing surface
may be altered to produce dropwise condensation of the steam instead of
the usual film-type condensation. With pure steam it has been shown
that heat transfer coefficients on the steam side can be increased from
five- to ten-fold by using a dropwise promoter.
The idea was conceived that perhaps dropvise condensation would
provide an answer to the problem of steam with air present. In this
thesis an attempt was made to study the steam-side coefficients of steam
and air mixtures during both dropwise and film-type condensations.
3-
HISTORICAL REVIEW
period from 1890 to 1930. With the sudden growth of the petroleum
and the chemical industries, during and atter the First World War,
to the types which are found in almost all chemical laboratories today,
in the annulus while steam entered the inside tube. The condensate
a spiral wire in the annular space and tound that the rate of beat flow
was increased several times. A similar attempt on the ste am side had
was the greater. Joule also tried using air as a cooling medium and
found that the resistance of the air film was large compared to the steam.
4-
as to greasiness or oxidation 11
time. It was found that the rate of condensation dropped about 7(J{o in
the range of 0 to l~ air. Reynolds attributed this decrease to the
presence of a stagnant layer of air in immediate contact with the
ste am will condense but the power of the surface to carry off he at 11
use of the term "heat transfer coefficient" for this case, and d.efined
unit til per unit temperature difference. This term bas been universally
adopted.
various distances from the condensing surface; in this way they hoped to
the uneven flow of he at around the thermometer wells. They concluded that
"if the rate of condensation vere infinite it should have been possible
to obtain a rate of condensation many times greater than the limit deduced
was condensing.
was unk:nown. It bad long been known that the water-film coefficient
resistance on the vapor aide and the resistance of the wall were
to the sum of the se three, he was able to deduce the resistance of the
vapor film by Plotting the sum of the resistances against the water
the value of the vapor resistance plus the wall resistance. The wall
r~sistance can easily be. calculated and bence the vapor film resistance
all that have been presented on this subject, for his equations are still
Almost every paper dealing with the condensation of vapors uses one of
data di~ficult.
The effect of air in steam has also been discussed by Hoeffner (16)
and Josse (18) but with no quantitative relations. In 1920 Robinson (37)
described a method of obtaining an empirical equation relating the heat
tranefer coefficient with the percent air present, using the data provided
by Kerr ( 23). B.F .Dodge ( 10) developed equations to enable approximate
calculations to be made when non-condensables are present in vapors.
He describes systems containing several vapor components which obey
Raoult' s law.
due to very small amounts of air present, indicates that the air must
date varied over each section of the tube, and they tried to give a set
of resulte for each foot of length. In 1934 they (8) developed a trial-
and non-condensing gases. The sensible beat loss plus the latent beat
he at transferred through the condensate, tube wall, and the cooling water
between the condensate and the vapor, and the corre sponding vapor
pressure of the condensate. Smith (41) in 1942, pointed out that this
latent heat of the vapor is high, as in the case of steam, the error
woul.d be sma.ll, but f'or some organic vapors the error could amount to
'
coefficients for design calculations based on Reynolds analogy between
discussed by Baker, Kazmark and Stroebe (2), (3), {43). They found
measuring the thickness with a micrometer screw, but was not very
copper plate 5.28 inches in diameter. When the surface became slightly
sugar mills. In a great many cases it was found that when the badly-
fouled tubes were clead, the heat transf'er became less efficient. In
his research Spoelstra f'ound that the scale on the tubes contained enough
af'ter long periode of' operation. This again was probably caused by the
presence of' oil in the steam. Af'ter more caref'ul experimentation (30)
(11), the ef'f'ect of' surf'ace-active agents on the condensing surf'ace vas
def'initely established.
The ef'f'ect of' vapor velocity was described by Shea and Krase (40) in
1940. They f'ound that as the vapor velocity increased, the coefficient
increased slowly to a maximum and then decreased quite rapidly. No
f'urther work bas been done on this phase of' dropwise condensation.
thicknesses and then studied their eff'ect on the steam side coefficients.
THEORETICAL DISCUSSION
of the fluid.
dq = -kd.A dt (1)
ds
where
dq "' instantaneous rate of heat trans:fer, B.t. u. per hr.
dA= differentia! area, in sq.ft. through which the beat
is flowing
- dt
dx = temperature gradient at rigbt angles to the flow of
he at, ( F. per foot )
k .. Specifie thermal cotxluctivity of the substance.
When heat transfer takes place between a solid and a fluid the
dq = hdA (t - t 8 ) (2)
where
h = beattransfer coefficient througb the fluid film
on the surface of the solid
t = bulk temperature of the fluid
t 8 = surface temperature of the solid.
12-
assumptions:
(1) The film of condensate is so thin that the temperature gradient
through it may be considered as being linear
( 2) All the he at is carried to the tal surf'ace by pure conduction
in a direction perpendicular to the surface
(3) The physical properties of' the condenaate are taln at the mean
film temperature.
( 4) The surface is considered as being smooth and clean
(5) The film always moves in viscous motion
( 6) The curvature of the film may be neglected
( 7) The temperature of' the sol id surface is constant.
Most of' these assumptions are quite valid. Probably the greatest
error is in the assumption that the film always f'lovs in viscous motion.
In almost all condensera there is an appreciable vapor velocity past the
condensing surface, causing ripples and small local disturbances in the film,
vhich tend to increase the rate of beat transfer.
13-
passes through the condenser its temperature will decrease vith the
the cool surface, the non-condensables are drawn along Vith it, tending
will predict the beat transfer coefficient for this case. In 1935,
Meisenburg, Boarts and Badger (27) presented one of the best papers on
the film type condensation of steam vith air present. They expressed
h = 1t [k'!p2:J J~
s s l L p L\t]
(...L \011
) (4)
steam. Since the amount of non-condensables vas small it vas not found
gas.
14-
work done for this thesis in the range of 7 to 25 mol percent air, the
h = F(a,G) (5)
al.eo
(6)
where x is a constant and
K = F(a) {7)
the re fore
h = Gx F(a) (8)
The resulta for film-type condensation of steam-air mixtures
VAPOR
CONOE.NS~\E _ __/
For a long time the early papers dealing with dropwise condensation
vere unable to give a clear reason why the beat transfer coefficient should
1933.
It ~ be assumed that the condensate covers the cooling surface in
the manner shown in Fig.l and that there are two adjacent surfaces of equal
and cq, be the heat transferred through areas a and 'b' respectively.
+ KAA.t
b
=KA At
[ ~+ ~]
For an illustration let a+ b -: 6
Qa,+~ = KAt [ ~+ ~]
:0.67 KAt
However if the relative thicknesses are such that a::. 1 and b = 5 then
The at!J:)unt of heat transferred through the seme area and seme amount
( 12), and of the author of this the sis, that the surface is actually
condensation.
follows:
expressed as
vary With the affinity that the vapor molecules have for each other and
that of the vapor melecules for the surface. If the surface has a
greater affinity for the vapor molecules than they have for each other, $
will be greater than .t and from equations (10, 11) V8 will be less than
vi.
Since the rate of evaporation from the bare surface is lesa than
that of the liquid-vapor interface, any ba.re spot~ on the surface will
established between the rate of heat transfer through it and the effect
of gravity in removing the film. The Nusselt equation, which bas been
equilibrium.
19-
atfini ty for the vapor molecules than they have for each other. In this
case i will be greater than "- and consequently v 8 will be greater than
vi. Since the rate of evaporation in this case is greater from the bare
surface than from the condensate surface, there will be a tendenoy for
the oondensing surface to remain dry. Because of the stress put on the
nuclei for the drops probably form on the most advantageous parts of the
surface where perhaps there are weaknesses in the layer of the dropwise
promoter. It has been shown quite conclusively by Emmons (12) that the
layera that may have existed originally. This layer will undoubtedly
During the experimental work for this thesis, it was oberved that
aize of roughly an eighth of an inch in diameter, the drops would run down
the surface gathering any ether droplets in their path, and sweep the
In the experimental work done for this thesis, the present author
found that the temperature of any point on the surface of the pipe was
that the surface between the drops is below the saturation temperature
of the vapor. Thus, a temperature gradient must exist between the bulk
of the saturated vapor and the surface, and this in turn must exist in
After watching this phenomenon for many hours in the laboratory, the
author of this thesis believes that the surface between the drops is
dry surface between the drops terminates at the edges of the drops them-
experimental observations.
21-
LlQU\0
GAS
50l\D
The attraction of the va.rious phases for each other and the
(Figure 2)
the sum of the liquid-gas and the solid-liquid interfacial tensions, and
part, for if it is high the drops will merge slowly with each other and
with heptyl mercaptan. The value of Z was negative, but the drops were
23-
condensation. The greatest success so fa.r bas been obtained with copper
will have a high attraction for the metal surface to prevent it from
washing off. At the sam.e time it must exhibit a 'repellent action for
the condensate. It has been shown that the promoter will exist in a
possess the se properties. This is the reason why the mercaptans a.re so
successful on copper. The active end o:f the molecule containing the
sulfur will adhere to the surface very tenaciously, while the other end,
themselves in such manner as to have one active and one inactive surface.
that used by G.E. Charles (5) in 1950 for the atudy of dehumidification.
the flow of vapor down the out si de, and water up the inside of a copper
globe valve into the apparatus. The flow of air was metered by a aharp-
edged orifice (diam.O. 500 inch) eut from a 1/16-inch aluminum sheet. The
globe valve, and entered the system after the air orifice. The mixture
Centigrade, and manometers for measuring the atatic pressure of the vapor,
were located at the condenser inlet and outlet. The excess va:pors from
the conde11ser outlet were vented to the atmosphere, while the condensate
-- 1
WATER OUT WATER
lN
0
'
'-..,J
T
CONSTANT
HEAD TANK f
-----
~1
.
AIR
.~~~~ ......._,t M
0 SA:TUR.Ait011 1
,;._.,....
CONDENSER 1
1
.,.
1 EXPER\MENTAL
1 CONDENSER
COOLlNG 1
W ~TER --tJ1o 1
5TEAM
T ...... _
..
E )\CESS VAPOR 1
M [ CONOENSAE
~
.....-----, B AL NC E
M MA.NOMETER T
0 OR\F\CE
T THERMONIE.TE R
they vere inserted. The water was metered be tore going to the drain,
The Condenser.
extra-heavy-copper) pipe over five feet of its length. The pipe was
tor a narrow observation elit down one aide. The vapor temperature
the vapor space, starting at six incbes from the top and ending at six
inches from the bottom. Pipe wall temperatures vere measured by nine
- - - - - Wllt.E. c~&LE.
MIL.LED Glt.OOVE
JUNCiiON.
--SOLDE~
bR.ASS FoU..
~~ IWSUL.~TE.O
CONS T~li T~H
WIR.t
E.N LA~GE.D VIF.W
JUNCTIOtot
OF VER-TICAL ROOVE.
A-
Foll.
WIRE.. C~f,LE.
according to vbat vas presumed the beat method found described in the
literature. In spite of the care and hard work involved, the tube had
this subject was made, and after much experimentation on copper tubing,
milled on opposite aides of the tube. Horizontal slots (lt inches long,
1/16-inch vide) vere eut in the outside surface of the tube vi th a saw,
and were branched at right angles to the main grooves at the location of
pipe served as a common junction and lead for the copper side of the
thermocouples. When the vires for one side had all been eut to the
proper length, they were wrapped together vith a strip of brass foil
the Junctions projected tangentia11y f'rom the helix and were soldered in
the pipe about one and one-half inches away from the longitudinal groove.
The bund.led vires were pressed to the bottom of the groove; the tube vas
heated vith an mey-acetylene torch, and the groove vas filled vith a low-
melting-solder. When this had been done on bath sides, the tube was
carefully polished vith steel vool. Each couple vas tested and all were
(2) There is only one lead in the pipe wall for each couple
(4) The brass helix gives the cable good physical contact with
the bottom of the groove and prevents 1t from f'loating to the surface
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
mere cubic centimeter of this mercaptan into the vapor stream caused
the tube washed and polished vith a cotton cloth containing a few
assembled and the dropwise runs were made. Although i t was probably
injected into the vapor stream atter about twenty hours of operation.
water rate was set, and the saturation temperature of the vapor inlet
was adjusted to give the desired steam-air composition. When the system
had reached a steady state, the run was started, and the following data
condenser
pipe wall
( 9) Condensate temperature
each run.
35-
1
La..l
0
...::(;
~0
~
"
t-
-;;z:
w PIPE WALL
8o TEMPERATU ~f.
\J
\Il
a...J
...... 1o
Dl.
"
.......
0
Go
......
al
:::2
t-
-ce
~
....... 5
0-
::ii
.......
t-
R.UN N. S'l
4o
0 4 &
TOP bOTTOM
LENGiH OF CONDENSING SU~fACE.
IN FE ET
RESULTS
11.
Figures 7 and 8.
where
in this thesis:
he= 5600 G.33 a-1.44
hse ::: the sensible beat transfer coefficient calculated from the
equation:
from the parallel lines in Figures 7 and 8. The resulte of the pure
steam runs and the runs in which mixed film-type and dropwise condensation
occurred are not included in Tables I and II. f.bre complete tables of
the experimental data and the calculated values are given in the appendix.
38-
No. h he h
Run
-a G
(a.ctual) (emperieal) (sensR1e)
lb. Air/ B.T.U./
bt>1 ~ Air In ~hr. ){,sg..ft.) ~hr.!{sg..tt.!~F)
20 9.22 13.1 439 554 1.33
21 9.19 17.3 515 539 1.93
22 9.62 11.5 495 482 1.29
23 9.52 15.9 587 543 1.91
24 12.6 8.3 290 293 0.91
25 12.5 12.0 345 336 1.16
26 12.8 16.8 389 364 1.46
27 13.5 21.5 426 360 1.73
28 14.65 12.0 258 266 1.07
29 15.2 17.0 309 284 1.33
30 15.5 18.8 327 287 1.54
31 15.6 25.4 392 311 1.93
32 19.0 15.0 199 199 1.15
33 19.2 20.5 251 215 1.41
34 19.5 24.2 273 223 1.73
35 19.8 28.8 303 231 2.00
36 22.5 12.9 129 147 1.07
37 22.7 18.9 182 165 1.38
38 22.9 26.6 223 183 1.81
39 23.1 31.8 255 190 2.08
40 25.1 12.6 112 124 1.11
39-
h
Run No.
-a G
(actual)
he
( emperical)
hse
(sensible)
lb.Air/ B.T.U./
Mol! Air In (hr. )(sg.ft.) (hr.)~s~.ft.)~F~
Run No. a G h
(actal) (senshfeble)
B. T.U./
Mol 1o Air In 1b.AirL{hr.){sg.ft.) (hr.){sg.tt.~{F.)
Run No.
-a G h
(actual)
h
( sensi:ge)
B.T.U./
Mol% Air In lb.Air/(hr.)(sq.ft.) (hr.)(sq.ft.)(F.)
74 22.8 12.5 141 1.14
75 23.0 16.4 180 1.28
76 23.1 22.2 213 1.52
77 25.5 12.0 111 1.06
78 25.7 17.3 145 1.36
79 25.9 30.0 201 2.07
1000----------------------------------------------------------------------~
9S CIJo ~\~ o
-
b.
3"" lOO
w
w
0
~ 150
~
w
t-
<1') 10 ~~0
~ ~ +:"'
1\)
1
5 \0 15 zo ts 30 35
G - A \R \1 EL OC.\ 'T't' lb.fChr.) (s,. ft.)
-a..: l'lOO
-tt
~000-10
9oo
~800 ~,d'Jo------
1::1.----
.: 100
----b~
'='-
?
..-::
c:o
t-
z 400 /
--
w
0 ~~> 1-
..... '7
J.a,. 300
laJ
0
\,)
b~
w .,.. ~fl'l
-,o ~ ~
~ lOO ~ t!lo 0.
~/ ~ . 1"1
'
~ "!- / ~ t.S
.c(
w ...~ /
~
~
w
~ 1
.t'.
lOC ,.,... <il
5 o tS to 25 30
G AIR \IE.LOC.\\'( lb.j(hr.)t~.ft.)
Fig.8 - Relation between G and h at various Inlet Compositions for Dropwise Condensation.
-
u..
~lOOO
~
*C300
'"
~
:) 800
t-=.
Ul
100
b
t-
%
-- 600
LtJ
()
" .
tuJ "'"
~~~=~o16.4J~
soo \
0 '
V .(OO
"'- 300
~. n~~~~!-J
0
.
'f
.~. ~ . ---------==-~~~~~
~ . . .o
4 f&o
111
:;;
.J:
lOO
---------- . ""'"- -- +:--
+:--
1
5 10 IS t.O tS 30 35
MOL Ofo A.\ R \N \ N LE.\ ST~N\
Fig.9 - Effect of Inlet Steam Composition on Heat Transfer Coefficient in Film-Type Condensation.
7000
5000
4000
30GO
tooo
lOO
}-
% 600
-
.....
~ soo
......
w..
~ 400'
u
0::
LaJ 3oo
.....
(f)
z
<
~ 2
~
.....
:t
100~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~--~
0 2. 4- E> 8 \0 \'l, \4. \E:. \~ 20 -e~ ?4 ,,
MOL or. AH\ \N \ NlE "T S 'TE~N\
46-
1700
1500
1460
1300
ltOO
OROPWlSE CONO~t\S~T\ON
t-700
%
Ul
-....o..U)O
wSOO
0
0 l=lLNI-lYPE C Ot\OEN5~T\ON
w400
.,.,a
J 300
~
4.
~too
.,
lOO
.t:
0 ~----=---------------------------------------~~--~
s 10 15 to -z.s
MOl O'fo A.\R lN ENTER\NG ~\EA.M
66
= O.t06 G~
ro.___:;....______~-----~~--~--~~""
IO tS 2.0 30 40 50
9-5 .30
12.8 .29
15.3 .31
49-
2.3 ; .
Z.l
2.0
1.9
~ L8
a x
19.4 .36
22.8 .36
25.3 .34
27.8 .35
30.5 .36
TABIB IV
Example for G =15
results:
h ::: 56oo a-1.44a.33 (8}
a =- 10 to 25 mol ~ Air.
51-
Several graphe were drawn similar to Fig.ll for the different mass-
velocities used in the experimental work, and the same trend was
noted.
Thus, probably the most important conclusion to be drawn in this
and Fig.8 for dropwise condensation. It was found that on a log-log plot
slope for the film-type lines was 0.33 while that of the dropwise lines
was 0.34. This indicates tha.t the mass-velocity effect, when air is
with the mercaptan, the coefficients vere somewhat erratic, but after a
Perhaps octyl mercaptan f'orms a more stable :film on the surface than
the lower mercaptans of' the paraff'in series which are sometimes used.
At one point, during the runs, a cubic centimeter of the
mercaptan was injected into the vapor stream, and erra.tic resulta
were obtained for a. :f'ew runs immediately f'olloWing this treatment,
as shown by the 18.~ line in Fig.8. The subsequent resulta were in
accordance With the general trend.
The eff'ect of' the Air Mass-Velocity on the Sensible-Hea.t Transfer
Coe:f':f'icient.
When the calcula.ted values :for the sensible-heat transf'er
coefficient were plotted on a log-log diagram (Fig.l2), it wa.s :f'ound
that a correlation could be obtai~n for the film-type data between 12.5
and 30 mol percent air. The resulta for less than 12.5 percent air showed
no such trends; the data for dropwise condensation disclosed a Wide
scattering on the various plots constructed, and made impossible any
correlation.
The Empirical Eguation.
The empirical equation was developed to attempt to show the general
trend in film-type condensation with air present. Table I illustrates
how the values :from the empirical equation compare wi th the experimental
resulta. The coefficients calculated from the eqution are usually on
the low side, - the sa:f'e side for design purposes. If this equation
should be used for design, it must be kept in mind that it applies only
54-
over the range stated in the derivation, and perhaps only to the type
No simple correlation was found and it was decided that the resulte
11.
( 1) Thermocouple Errors.
because of the disturbance caused to the flow of heat and the fluid
condensing organic vapors they used a modified form of the Wilson Plot
gi ve i t a uniform surface.
<
55-
temperature reading f'rom its average was about one degree Centigrade.
about f'i ve percent of the he at g1ven up by the vapor. This loss did
because all the beat trans:ferred through the condensate film was
that all the latent beat is liberated on the eondensing surface and
only sensible heat is transferred through the gas film covering the
gas film, and the mechanism of the process is changed. In some of the
runa a tendency towards fog formation was evident when the air
Scale Formation.
any ecale which may have formed on the inside of the tube. During the
surface was not cleaned for fear of disturbing the promoter layer. No
visible changes in the surface were. noted while the dropwise runs were
being made.
57-
LIST OF SYMBOLS
REFERENCES
17. Jacob M. and Hawkins G.A. Elements of Heat Transfer and Insu1ation -
John Wi;Ley and Sons - New York ( 1942)
28. Monrad c.e. and w.L. Badger, Ind.Eng.Chem. 27, 1103 (1930)
29. Nag1e W.M. and Drew T.B. Trans.Am.Inst.Chem.Engrs. 30, 217 (1933)
30. Nagle W.M., G.S. Baya Jr., L.M.Blenderma.n, and T.B.Drew, Trans.
Am.Inst.Chem.Engrs. 31, 593 (1935}
40. Shea. F.L., a.nd. N.W. Kra.se, Tra.ns.Am.Inst.Chem.Engrs. 36, 463 (194o)
APPENDIX
Q!&9.lJl!A!IQ.N'_Ql.1 .:0lQ!J..~ C011]:.;;::.'F;;:::.;IC=-=I=ENT:.:::.S
1
~_!.
Mixed dropwise and film-type condensation took place in Runa 10, 17, lB, 19.
1r G calcula.ted from vapor pressure measurements - not reliable.
TABLE __VI (Continued)