Journal article
Dropwise condensation: experiments and simulations of nucleation and growth of water drops in a cooling system
Langmuir, Vol.22(21), pp.8864-8872
10/10/2006
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/117724
PMCID: PMC2631394
PMID: 17014129
Abstract
Dropwise condensation of water vapor from a naturally cooling, hot water reservoir onto a hydrophobic polymer film and a silanized glass slide was studied by direct observation and simulations. The observed drop growth kinetics suggests that smallest drops grow principally by the diffusion of water adsorbed on the substrate to the drop perimeter, while drops larger than about 50 microm in diameter grow principally by direct deposition from the vapor onto the drop surface. Drop coalescence plays a critical role in determining the drop-size distribution and stimulates the nucleation of new, small drops on the substrates. Simulations of drop growth incorporating these growth mechanisms provide a good description of the observed drop-size distribution. Because of the large role played by coalescence, details of individual drop growth make little difference to the final drop-size distribution. The rate of condensation per unit substrate area is especially high for the smallest drops and may help account for the high heat transfer rates associated with dropwise condensation relative to filmwise condensation in heat exchange applications.
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Details
- Title
- Dropwise condensation: experiments and simulations of nucleation and growth of water drops in a cooling system
- Creators
- R N Leach - Physics Department, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-2814, USAF StevensS C LangfordJ T Dickinson
- Publication Details
- Langmuir, Vol.22(21), pp.8864-8872
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy, Department of
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- R01 HG002647 / NHGRI NIH HHS R01 HG002647-01A1 / NHGRI NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900548216401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article