Correlations for two-phase friction pressure drop under microgravity

Fang, Xiande; Xu, Yu

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.09.005

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…The available literature on this topic shows little coherence with regard to the effect of gravity on the film thickness and interfacial waves characteristics, which is found to be negligible for some authors 9 and remarkable for others 8,10,11 . Such contradictory results suggest that further experimental studies are required during both adiabatic and diabatic two-phase flow, especially for the development of reliable predictive tools in reduced gravity environments or for updating existing correlations, which are typically retrieved from on-ground experiments 1,[12][13][14] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condensation heat transfer in microgravity conditions

et al. 2023

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In the present paper, a thorough review of the experimental and numerical studies dealing with filmwise and dropwise condensation under microgravity is reported, covering mechanisms both inside tubes and on plain or enhanced surfaces. The gravity effect on the condensation heat transfer is examined considering the results of studies conducted both in terrestrial environment and in the absence of gravity. From the literature, it can be inferred that the influence of gravity on the condensation heat transfer inside tubes can be limited by increasing the mass flux of the operating fluid and, at equal mass flux, by decreasing the channel diameter. There are flow conditions at which gravity does exert a negligible effect during in-tube condensation: predictive tools for identifying such conditions and for the evaluation of the condensation heat transfer coefficient are also discussed. With regard to dropwise condensation, if liquid removal depends on gravity, this prevents its application in low gravity space systems. Alternatively, droplets can be removed by the high vapor velocity or by passive techniques based on the use of condensing surfaces with wettability gradients or micrometric/nanometric structuration: these represent an interesting solution for exploiting the benefits of dropwise condensation in terms of heat transfer enhancement and equipment compactness in microgravitational environments. The experimental investigation of the condensation heat transfer for long durations in steady-state zero-gravity conditions, such as inside the International Space Station, may compensate the substantial lack of repeatable experimental data and allow the development of reliable design tools for space applications.

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