Forced Convection Condensation on a Horizontal Tube: Influence of Turbulence in the Vapor and Liquid Phases
An implicit finite difference scheme is used to solve the problem of condensation of pure vapors flowing vertically downwards around a horizontal tube. The incompressible flow equations coupled at the interface for the liquid and vapor phases are solved. The pressure gradient, inertia, and enthalpy convection terms are retained in this analysis, and the influence of turbulence in the two phases is considered. The calculated results for laminar flow and those from different mixing length turbulence models are compared with experimental results for condensation of steam and R113. The results presented show that the average condensation heat transfer coefficients obtained using Kato’s turbulence model in the condensate film and Pletcher’s model in the vapor phase, are in good agreement with the experimental data.