Numerical Simulations of Laminar Film Condensation of H2O/Air or H2O/CO2 on a Vertical Plate

The liquid film thickness seriously affects the distribution of temperature, velocity, and components near the interface for steam condensation in the presence of small concentration noncondensable gas. The liquid film thickness for H2O/CO2 forced convection condensation separation on vertical plate has not been studied numerically. Thus, volume of fluid model and a phase change model were used to study steam condensation in the presence of noncondensable gases. The calculations studied the effects of velocity, surface subcooling, and noncondensable gas mole fraction on the heat transfer for H2O/air or H2O/CO2 mixtures. The results show that the predicted heat transfer coefficients agree well with previous experimental data. The gas and liquid film thicknesses controlling the condensation heat transfer in the presence of a noncondensable gas become thicker as the mixture flows along the cooled wall. The condensate mass flow rate and the heat transfer coefficient are both seriously reduced by the noncondensable gas. The condensate heat transfer in the presence of noncondensable gases is mainly determined by the diffusion coefficient and the thermal conductivities of the components in the gas film layer.