Experimental observations of dropwise condensation of water vapor on a chemically textured surface of glass and its detailed computer simulation are presented. Experiments are focused on the pendant mode of dropwise condensation on the underside of horizontal and inclined glass substrates. Chemical texturing of glass is achieved by silanation using octyl-decyl-tri-chloro-silane (C18H37C13Si) in a chemical vapor deposition process. The mathematical model is built in such a way that it captures all the major physical processes taking place during condensation. These include growth due to direct condensation, droplet coalescence, sliding, fall-off, and renucleation of droplets. The effects arising from lyophobicity, namely, the contact angle variation and its hysteresis, inclination of the substrate, and saturation temperature at which the condensation is carried out, have been incorporated. The importance of higher order effects neglected in the simulation is discussed. The results of model simulation are compared with the experimental data. After validation, a parametric study is carried out for cases not covered by the experimental regime, i.e., various fluids, substrate inclination angle, saturation temperature, and contact angle hysteresis. Major conclusions arrived at in the study are the following: The area of droplet coverage decreases with an increase in both static contact angle of the droplet and substrate inclination. As the substrate inclination increases, the time instant of commencement of sliding of the droplet is advanced. The critical angle of inclination required for the inception of droplet sliding varies inversely with the droplet volume. For a given static contact angle, the fall-off time of the droplet from the substrate is a linear function of the saturation temperature. For a given fluid, the drop size distribution is well represented by a power law. Average heat transfer coefficient is satisfactorily predicted by the developed model.
Vapor-to-liquid phase change in the form of discrete drops on or underneath a substrate is called dropwise condensation. The process is hierarchical in the sense that it occurs over a wide range of length and timescales. As the associated heat transfer coefficient is much higher than the film and mixed mode of condensation, it is of considerable interest in applications. The present study is focused on mathematical modelling of dropwise condensation process at multiple scales. The model includes formation of drops at the atomistic scale, droplet growth, coalescence, instability, slide off and fall-off, followed by fresh nucleation of liquid droplets. The model shows that the largest stable cluster size in the atomic model matches the minimum drop radius estimated from thermodynamic considerations. The minimum drop radius is insensitive to surface texturing and does not provide controllability at larger length and timescales. A closer examination of droplet distribution over the substrate reveals that small drops are locations of high heat transfer rates, which diminishes with increasing drop radius. The largest drop diameter depends on its stability and hence, the interfacial forces at phase boundaries. Therefore, drop instability controls the heat transfer coefficient in dropwise condensation. Enhancement of heat transfer necessitates that these drops grow with time, become unstable and be swept away as quickly as possible. Enhancement may be achieved either by (i) inclining the substrate or (ii) by creating an interfacial force at the three-phase contact line by a wettability gradient over the horizontal substrate, inducing drop motion. Wall heat transfer and shear stress under moving drops have been determined using a CFD model. A simple model of coalescence has been adopted in this work. Simulation studies on the effect of fluid properties, surface inclination and its wettability condition on drop size distribution, cycle time, heat transfer coefficient, and wall shear stress are comprehensively discussed in the present article.
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