Condensation Heat Transfer Enhancement on Surfaces with Interlaced Wettability

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of surfaces with interlaced wettability on steam–air mixture condensation. Experiments were conducted on various types of surface with different modified strip widths. In general, surfaces exhibiting high hydrophobic wettability yield a high condensation heat-transfer rate because dropwise condensation is easily formed. However, the experimental results of this study revealed that surfaces with interlaced wettability demonstrated superior condensation heat-transfer performance to those with homogeneous high hydrophobic wettability. Such an observation implies that the configuration of surface modification can enhance condensation heat transfer. In addition, the data indicated an optimal area ratio of modified surfaces to unmodified surfaces.