Improving heat and mass transfer rates through continuous drop-wise condensation

Drop-wise condensation (DWC) has been the focus of scientific research in vapor condensation technologies since the 20th century. Improvement of condensation rate in DWC is limited by the maximum droplet a condensation surface could sustain and the frequency of droplet shedding. Furthermore, The presence of non-condensable gases (NCG) reduces the condensation rate significantly. Here, we present continuous drop-wise condensation to overcome the need of hydrophobic surfaces while yet maintaining micron-sized droplets. By shifting focus from surface treatment to the force required to sweep off a droplet, we were able to utilize stagnation pressure of jet impingement to tune the shed droplet size. The results show that droplet size being shed can be tuned effectively by tuning the jet parameters. our experimental observations showed that the effect of NCG is greatly alleviated by utilizing this technique. An improvement by multiple folds in mass transfer compactness factor compared to state-of-the-art dehumidification technology was possible.

N2–O2 icing in single-crystal in-house X-ray diffraction experiments using an open-flow helium cryostat

This note reports a study of the coating of a crystal with `ice' at temperatures below 45 K during single-crystal in-house diffraction experiments when using an open-flow helium cryostat. The `ice' consists mainly of crystalline oxygen and nitrogen. This suggests completely different techniques for avoiding this type of icing compared with water icing. With appropriate choices of crystal mount, crystal position with respect to the nozzle and gas flow conditions, it is possible to avoid detectable condensation. However, sometimes this cannot be achieved in practice (poor diffraction from a smaller crystal, necessity of positioning the crystal in certain orientations to achieve desired data completeness, need to reduce helium consumption etc.). The problem of icing seems to be less common for powder experiments where the laminar gas flow is parallel to the capillary containing the sample, and for synchrotron experiments where the sample is comparatively small and almost continuously rotated, which facilitates the ice covering being removed by the gas flow. This last technique can in principle also be applied to single-crystal X-ray diffraction using laboratory diffractometers – periodic rapid rotation of the crystal can help to minimize any icing, but this technique will not work when the condensation rate is comparable to or faster than one frame of data collection. The coating around a sample crystal reduces the quality of the diffraction data, and the temperature at the sample below the coating may differ significantly from that at the cryostat nozzle reported by the instrument.

An Experimental Study on Eco-Friendly and Cost-Effective Natural Materials for Productivity Enhancemento Single Slope Solar Still

The proposed research study aims to improve the productivity of solar still (SS) by using low-cost and eco-friendly materials. The aforementioned objective was achieved by enhancing the evaporation rate of seawater in the absorber basin and the condensation rate over the glass cover of the solar still. In this study, the low-cost and eco-friendly materials used for enhancing the evaporation rate in the solar still were Molasses Powder (MP), Sawdust (SD), Rise Husk (RH). In addition to these materials, Bamboo Straw (BS), Banana Leaf stem (BL), and Rice Straw (RS) were used as absorbing materials over the glass cover for enhancing the condensation rate. The experiments were carried out under similar meteorological conditions and the results of the modified solar still were compared with Conventional Solar Still (CSS). The productivities of CSS, SSMP, SSRH, SSSD, SSBS, SSBL and SSRS were about 2250 mL/m2, 2383 mL/m2, 2467 mL/m2, 3033 mL/m2, 2700 mL/m2, 2683 mL/m2, and 3367 mL/m2 , respectively. The results of the experimental investigation highlighted that the SSSD had a comparatively better evaporation rate and 34.81% higher yield than CSS. Besides, SSRS had a comparatively better condensation rate and a 51.88% higher yield than CSS. Later, the combination of sawdust (SD) and rice straw (RS) was investigated for combined enhancement of evaporation and condensation. The solar still with sawdust and rice straw (SSSDRS) showed a 62.88% improvement in productivity with 3633 mL/m2 when compared to CSS. Also, the economic analysis showed that the cost per litre (CPL) of freshwater obtained from SSSDRS was about ₹ 1.9 ($ 0.025) with a payback period of 4.4 months which was the least when compared to all the considered cases.

Condensation Heat Transfer Model: A Comparison Study of Condensation Rate Between a Single Bubble and Multiple Rising Bubbles

The main objective of this work is to develop a numerical model to analyze heat transfer and condensation of a rising spherical bubble. The model included the bubble shrinkage during condensation, which can be utilized to analyze the bubble’s total energy loss, raising velocity, and condensation rate of a single bubble compared to multiple bubbles with the same total thermal energy. The equations of motion, heat, and mass transfer were developed. The model results were verified with the bubble condensation experiment data in the literature, in which they exhibited a good agreement. For the validation, the model results were compared with bubble condensation experiment data in the literature, which showed a good agreement with the experimental results. The dynamic term of the model is developed using the force balance on a gravity-driven bubble, including hydrodynamic drag force and gravity/buoyancy force, which acting with and against the bubble’s motion direction. For the thermal part of the model, a condensation correlation has been adapted to represent the Nusselt number as a function of Reynolds number (Re), Jakob number (Ja), and Prandtl number (Pr). A MATLAB code is developed in order to calculate the instantaneous velocity, the radius, and the mass loss of the vapor bubble in each time step. Moreover, the fundamental behavior for a single bubble and multiple bubbles was investigated in various initial conditions under the same total thermal energy. The effects of the initial bubble radius and the temperature difference between the liquid and vapor phases were analyzed for both scenarios in order to examine the condensation rate. It was found that the thermal behavior of the condensing bubble can be improved by forcing the bubble to collapse into sub bubbles, which will increase the total interfacial area and the rising velocity. Farther, due to generated sub bubbles, the resultant velocity increased the turbulency and the heat transfer rate accordingly. This study can lead to improve the heat transfer rate and allow for more intensive research to enhance the condensation rate.

Influence of Flue Gas Turbulence Intensity on the Heat and Mass Transfer and Pressure Drop Inside a TMC Based Heat Exchanger

In this study, a numerical analysis of turbulent flow heat and mass transfer in the cross-flow transport membrane condenser (TMC) based heat exchange was carried out. The heat exchanger under investigation was designed to recover both sensible and latent heat due to transport of heat and mass through a nanoporous ceramic membrane in the bundle of tubes of the heat exchanger. The shear stress transport SST k-ω turbulence model was used to model the turbulent flow of the flue gas mixture. The condensation rate of the water vapor from the flue gas were calculated using a mixed condensation model. The mixed model was based on the capillary condensation and wall condensation in the membrane tube. The numerical study was focused on the investigation of the impact of the turbulence intensity of the flue gas at various inlet conditions, such as Reynolds numbers and temperatures, on the heat and mass transfer and pressure drop characteristics. The numerical results were validated against the experimental results reported in the literature. Different tube diameters were used in the simulation, with the Reynolds number varied from 3000 to 10000. The results showed that an increase in turbulence intensity led to a significant increase in the turbulent kinetic energy, condensation rate, average convective Nusselt number and change on the pressure drop in the heat exchanger. The effects of inlet flow Reynolds number and tube diameter on the heat and mass transfer were also presented and discussed.

Determination of Dehumidification Capacity of Water Wall with Controlled Water Temperature: Experimental Verification under Laboratory Conditions

Water elements with flowing water on the surface are common in buildings as a form of indoor decoration, and they are most often perceived as passive humidifiers. However, by controlling water temperature, they can be also used for air dehumidification. The dehumidification capacity of indoor water elements was investigated experimentally under laboratory conditions. For the experimental verification of dehumidification capacity, a water wall prototype with an effective area of falling water film of 1 m2 and a measuring system were designed and developed. A total of 15 measurements were carried out with air temperatures ranging from 22.1 °C to 32.5 °C and relative humidity from 58.9% to 85.6%. The observed dehumidification capacity varied in the range of 21.99–315.36 g/h for the tested measurements. The results show that the condensation rate is a dynamic process, and the dehumidification capacity of a water wall strongly depends on indoor air parameters (air humidity and temperature). To determine the dehumidification capacity of a water wall for any boundary conditions, the equations were determined based on measured data, and two methods were used: the linear dependence between humidity ratio and condensation rate, and nonlinear surface fitting based on the dependence between the condensation rate, air temperature, and relative humidity.

An experimental investigation of Top of Line Corrosion in a static CO₂ environment

<i>This paper presents an experimental and theoretical investigation into water condensation and corrosion under non-corrosion product forming conditions at the top of line in a static, CO<sub>2 </sub>environment. An experimental test cell is developed to measure droplet lifetimes, condensation rates, as well as in situ and integrated corrosion rates (using miniature electrodes and mass loss specimens, respectively), as a function of the surface and gas temperatures, when the gas flow is dominated by natural convection. Experimental results show clearly that that water condensation rate (WCR) is not very influential on corrosion rate at low surface temperatures (T<sub>s</sub>) (particularly below 25<sup>o</sup>C) but becomes much more important at higher surface temperatures (>40<sup>o</sup>C). These findings are summarised in a new empirical correlation for TLC rate as a function of the condensation rate and surface temperature. A model for condensation at the top of the line for static, buoyancy-driven conditions is also presented and is shown to predict dropwise condensation rates accurately for a range of experimental conditions. The developed miniature electrodes for in situ electrochemical measurement are shown to provide an accurate interpretation of the transient response in general corrosion behaviour by giving real-time corrosion rates to complement the mass loss measurement.</i>