A review of direct contact condensation of

steam on water droplets

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 1984, 020035 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5046619
Published Online: 25 July 2018

Vivi Apriyanti, Willy Adriansyah, Abdurrachim, and Ari Darmawan Pasek

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AIP Conference Proceedings 1984, 020035 (2018); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5046619 1984, 020035

© 2018 Author(s).
 A Review of Direct Contact Condensation of Steam on
Water Droplets
Vivi Apriyanti1,2,a), Willy Adriansyah 1, Abdurrachim1, Ari Darmawan Pasek 1
1
Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sekolah Tinggi Teknologi Nasional, Jambi
a)
Corresponding author: viviapriyanti@students.itb.ac.id

Abstract. Direct contact heat transfer is a natural phenomenon that occurs in nature. When steam contacts physically with
water droplets, it results in direct contact condensation with high heat transfer rates. Due to its better heat transfer
performance as well as its simplicity and less costly in construction and maintenance of equipment, this direct contact
condensation is widely used in geothermal power plants, water desalination, chemical and nuclear industries. This paper
reviews condensation process of pure and mixture of steam with non-condensable gas regarding to the condensation of
steam on water droplets. The presence of non-condensable gases such as air, CO2, H2S, and other gases decrease equipment
heat transfer efficiency. The observed parameters, modeling and heat transfer mechanisms are summarized in this paper
based on the experimental and theoretical studies conducted by several researchers.

INTRODUCTION
Condensation is a heat transfer process that involves changing the saturated vapor phase into a subcooled water
called condensate. Condensation occurs when vapor is contacted with a cooling surface or fluid having a temperature
lower than the vapor saturation temperature. The latent heat of the vapor is released into the cooling medium and
causes a change in the physical state of the vapor from the gas phase to the liquid phase. The condensation phenomenon
is found in the nature. The formation of clouds, dew on plants, car windows are misty when the day is raining, and the
appearance of water molecules on the glass or bottle surface containing ice, are examples of the condensation.
Condensation can be classified into four common modes; film-wise condensation, dropwise condensation, direct
contact condensation, and homogeneous condensation [1]. Figure 1 shows the classification of the condensation. In
the film condensation, it can be illustrated with condensate covers the vertical condensation surface as a thin layer and
flows down under the influence of gravity. In the dropwise condensation, various diameters of condensate droplets
appear on the vertical cooling surface, the drops sliding down after reaching a certain size. The pure steam or mixture
with other gas and the coolant fluid come into direct contact physically in direct contact condensation so that the
condensate has formed from the mixing of those fluids in the direct contact condensation. In the homogeneous
condensation, a nucleation like fog is created because of increasing of pressure or decrease in the temperature vapor.
The most popular equipment designed with the principle of condensation process is a condenser. The condenser is
a heat exchanger that condenses excess steam out of the turbine in a thermal power plant. There are two groups of
condensers; surface condensers and direct contact condensers. In the surface condenser, condensation is formed on
the surface of plats or tubes as the coolant media. Direct contact of steam and coolant liquid produce the condensate
from those components in direct contact condensation. Direct contact condensation is widely applied in geothermal
power plants, heat pipes, nuclear reactors, waters desalination, chemical and process industries. It has some benefits
like; high performance of heat transfer, simple in construction, low in cost in built equipment and maintenance, and
also there are not fouling and scaling problem [2]. Due to these advantages, direct contact condenser is commonly
used in geothermal power plants [3].

International Conference on Thermal Science and Technology (ICTST) 2017

AIP Conf. Proc. 1984, 020035-1–020035-10; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5046619
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1700-7/$30.00

020035-1
 Condensation

Filmwise Dropwise Direct Contact Homogeneous

Condensation Condensation Condensation Condensation

Drop type

Jet/sheet type

Film type

Bubble/pool
type

FIGURE 1. Classification of condensation

In this review will be summarized theoretical and experimental studies of direct contact condensation of steam on
water droplets. The review focuses on two main subjects based on the condensation environment: condensation in a
steam environment and in vapor mixture with non-condensable gas. The aim of this review is to learn how far the
researchers have studied the effects of non-condensable gas on the direct contact condensation of steam on water
droplets. It is important to be observed because of the wide applications of this condensation. At a geothermal power
plant, the non-condensable gas is carried into the condenser along with the geothermal fluids. The non-condensable
gas contains CO2, H2S, and other gases where more than 80% of its content is CO2. It will increase the condenser
operation pressure, reduce the turbine work and lower the electricity production [4]. For 0.01 Bar increasing of
condenser pressure can reduce 1.5-1.6% of electricity production [5].

DIRECT CONTACT CONDENSATION MECHANISM

According to form the interface of vapor and coolant liquid, the direct contact condenser classified in four types;
drop type, jet/sheet type, film type, and bubble/pool type as shown schematically in Fig. 2 [2]. In the drop type
condenser, the cooling water is sprayed through a nozzle or multi nozzles to produce water droplets with small
diameters. The water droplets are spread into the condenser chamber and directly contact to the steam or mixtures of
steam and non-condensable gas which are streamed continuously into the condenser. In jet/sheet type, the coolant
liquid flows into vapor environment as liquid jet or sheet. The third type condenser is more complex than the two
previous types. The film type condenser is supported by a solid surface (e.g. plats, baffles, particles) to provide a thin
film layer with large heat transfer surface area in a packed bed. In contrast to the three previous types, where the water
is injected into the vapor environment, in the bubble type condenser, the steam is injected into a continuous/pool of
the cooling liquid. In the application of the direct contact condensation in industries may use a combination of the
condensation categories [6].

020035-2
 (a) (b)

(c) (d)
FIGURE 2. Direct contact condensation modes (a) Drop type. (b) Film type. (c) Jet/sheet type. (d) Bubble/pool type [2]

STUDIES OF DIRECT CONTACT CONDENSATION ON WATER DROPLET

As previously described, condensation exists in nature and has been widely used in the industries for a long time.
Huang et al [7] gave a complete review of the filmwise condensation and the dropwise condensation in the presence
of non-condensable gas. He mentioned that the first experimental research has conducted by Donald Othmer in 1929.
By the time, many researchers are interested in studying the condensation mechanism and modeling the heat transfer
process. The studies of steam condensation on water droplet have been done for the last five decades, but very few
and limited publications have found related to direct contact condensation type drop.

Condensation in Pure Steam Environment

In 1953, Weinberg [8] conducted an experimental study to observe the mechanism of water spray flow and
calculated the heat transfer in a steam environment. Various centrifugal nozzles were used. Most of the nozzles are
full cone type with 85o of spray angle and flow at low pressure. The photographs of spray mechanism showed that the
flow of water classified into two phases: the film phase and the drop phase. The analysis of the heat transfer occurring
in these two phases. The result summarized that coefficient heat transfer of film phase is higher five to ten times than
the drop phase.
Ford and Lekic, 1973 [9] studied the growth of spray water drops during the direct contact condensation of steam.
By assuming condensation is an unsteady-state heat transfer in the solid sphere and negligible the thermal resistance
at the interface, theoretical approximation equation had obtained in Eq. (1).

R ª § Dt ·º
1  \ «1  exp¨¨  S 2 2 ¸¸» (1)
Ri ¬ © Ri ¹¼

where

§ C p Ts  Ti  · (2)
\ 3 ¨¨1  ¸¸  1
© O ¹
They performed an experiment to record drops growth during condensation by using a high-speed camera. Steam
flowed thought into a cubical settling chamber from the bottom of the chamber at the low velocity less than 60.96
mm/s. Stainless steel hypodermic needles with inner diameter 0.127 mm and 0.0762 mm, were used to produce a
single drop. The result showed that each needle produces droplet with diameter 1.51 mm and 1.76 mm and appropriate

020035-3
with the theoretical prediction. Seven years later, Lekic and Ford, 1980 [10] extended a theoretical study of direct
contact condensation of steam on the water droplet. A mathematical model was proposed to analyzed drop size
distribution and heat transfer rate during the process of the condensation. The diameter droplet during the condensation
is expressed in Eq. (3). The normalized volume distribution shows in Eq. (4). The volume and the number of droplets
with diameters between D-(dD/2) and D+(dD/2) per unit time are given in Eq. (5) and (6).

D ^ >
Di 1 \ 1  exp(S 2 Fo) @
1/ 2
` (3)

dX G Dm (4)
exp(G 2 y 2) )
dD S Di ( Dm  Di )
m G Dm (5)
dV exp(G 2 y 2) )dDi
Ul S Di ( Dm  Di )
m G Dm 6 (6)
dN exp(G 2 y 2) )dDi
Ul S Di ( Dm  Di ) SDi
3

where
4Dt (7)
Fo
Di2

aDi (8)
y ln
Dm  Di

Dm is the maximum drop diameter, a is a skewness parameter, and G is a uniformity of the spray. Variable m is the
water mass flow rate through the nozzle and the subscript i refer to the initial diameter of the droplet. They analyzed
the effect of initial drop velocity, drop size, and properties of steam and water on the thermal utilization. The thermal
utilization is defined by Eq. (9).
Qz (9)
H
QT

The quantity of heat absorbed by the droplet per unit time is calculated in Eq. (10) and the maximum amount of heat
per unit time that can be absorbed by the spray is obtained by Eq. (11).
S
Qz
6
Ul O ³
0
Dm
D 3

 Di3 dN (10)

QT m(h f  hl ) (11)

The experimental study was performed to validate the model. The experiment chamber was a condensing cylinder
with diameter 305 mm and height 850 mm. Three full cone nozzles were used to spray the water at the pressure 30-
80 kPa and flow rate 6-10 m/s. The temperature inlet of steam, inlet of water, and condensate were measured by type
K thermocouples. A high value of thermal utilization from the model and the experiment data are compared in Fig. 4.
They found the high value of the thermal utilization and the droplet diameter was the most affected of the thermal
utilization.

020035-4
 1.0

0.8 MODEL
EXPERIMENT
0.6 (a)
1.0
H
0.8

0.6 (b)
1.0

0.8 (c)
20 50 100 200 300 400 Z (mm)

FIGURE 3. Thermal utilization from various diameter nozzle at 'P = 34.0 kPa (a) 0.64 cm, (b) 0.95 cm, (c) 1.27 cm [10]

In 1984, Lee and Tankin [11] developed an analytical model of water spray flow to study the effect of the
condensable environment on the hydrodynamics of water spray. The spray flow pattern divided into three parts; sheet
region, breakup region, and droplet region. Figure 5 shows the streamlines pattern when water is sprayed into the air
and the steam environment. The experiment conducted in a brass chamber that has two windows for taking holograms
and photographs of spray. Two types of full cone sprays were used in the experiment; swirl nozzle and poppet nozzle.
The result of this study showed that the breakup length was shorter in the condensable environment than in the air.
The droplet size is larger in steam than in the air condition. The increasing of water pressure made the droplets smaller
and uniform.

a) b).
FIGURE 4. The flow pattern of spray. a) no condensation b) with condensation [11]

Based on laminar boundary layer theory and in-viscid vortex flow inside the droplet, Chung and Chang, 1984 [12]
developed a mathematical model to predict condensation heat and mass transfer on the droplet surface in pure steam.
The analysis involved the solution of the equation of motion and energy in the vapor and the liquid phase. The
assumptions of the analysis were a spherical water droplet has a uniform temperature, steady internal motion and
under atmospheric pressure. The numerical calculation was performed on 0.25 mm – 0.75 mm droplet sizes, 150 oC
and 75 oC the temperature of the superheated steam and the water droplet, and 100 of Peclet number. The equation of
boundary layer was solved by adopting a Karman-Pohlhausen integral approach and the diffusion equation in the
thermal core was determined by Crank-Nicholson finite difference numerical scheme. The result of this research
showed the drop size influence the total heat transfer rate as shown in Fig. 5. The internal circulation declined the
boundary layer thickness and thermal resistance in the liquid phase and raised the transport rate.

020035-5
 1000

T ∞ = 150 o C
T o = 75 o C

W/m2
750 P ∞ = 1 atm
Pe∞ = Pel
= 100
q (0,0)x10-3
500

300

100
2 4 6 8 10
DROPLET RADIUS, R x 10 -4 m

FIGURE 5. Effect of droplet radius on the condensation rate [12]

Celata et al. (1991) [13] examined the effect of diameter and velocity of the droplet on heat transfer rate of direct
contact condensation saturated vapor on the water droplet. An experiment was conducted in a cylindrical vessel with
the flange at the bottom. The pressure water was injected through multi holes nozzle (ad hoc system) with high acoustic
vibration. Spray produced a uniform droplet with diameter droplet 0.3 to 2.8 mm, pressure up to 0.6 MPa and velocity
0.85 – 9 m/s. From experimental data, they determined and proposed the empirical convective factor (C) as a function
of the modified Peclet number as given in Eq. (12) which is a = 0.153 and b = 0.454. Factor C is the empirical
correction coefficient for convective (turbulence) contribution inside the droplet that is implied the average droplet
temperature in Pasamehmetoglu and Nelson model as Eq. (14).
C a( Pec)b (12)
where,
Dud Ps (13)
Pec
D Pd  Ps 
T (t )  Ti 6 f
1 § S 2t · (14)
Tm
Tsat  Ti
1
S2
¦n 2
exp¨¨  n 2C 2 ¸¸
Ri ¹
n 1 ©

Takahashi et al, 2001 [14] observed the behavior of condensation heat transfer at the interface between saturated
steam and water sprayer resulting from the hollow cone nozzle. He observed the effect of temperature readings of two
small thermocouples (K-type) 0.025 mm and 0.05 mm with high response and supported by a high-frequency data
acquisition system. In experimental result, Fig. 6 shows the local average of heat transfer coefficient that calculated
by Eq. (15), (16) and (17).

T ³
r2

r1

2T (r )rdr / r22  r12  (15)

x 1 'T (16)
q mCp
4Sr 'x / cos I

q h (Tsat  T ) (17)

020035-6
 In the analytical model, the sheet thickness in sheet region calculated with Eq. (18) the mean temperature rise with
small Graetz number was expressed as Eq. (19) and for large Gz as mention in Eq. (20). The breakup length was
estimated using empirical equation on Lee and Tankin for spray flow 0.057 kg/s and initial temperature 75oC. Diameter
droplet is estimated 0.295 mm.

m (18)
s
2SrUV

8 § 4S 2 · (19)
T exp¨¨  ¸¸
S 2
© 3Gz ¹

8 (20)
T 1
3SGz

FIGURE 6. Heat transfer coefficient from the experiment [14]

Condensation in Mixture Steam with Non-Condensable Gas Environment

The non-condensable gas is believed to have a negative effect on the heat transfer process. Michaelides, 1982 [4]
studied the influence of non-condensable gas on the net-works at the geothermal power plant. The non-condensable
gases that enter with the steam into the condenser consist of carbon dioxide (CO 2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia
(NH3), methane (CH4), nitrogen (N2), and ethane (C2H6). The content varies depending on the wells respectively, but
85-96% of the gas is CO2. In geothermal power plant in Indonesia the content of NCG in steam around 0.65 -3.3 wt%
[15]. The researches that examine the effect of non-condensable gas on direct contact condensation type-drop are very
limited. Kulic et al, 1975 [16] did a series of mathematical simulation to study the effect of droplet size, the initial
velocity of droplets and air concentration of air-steam mixture on heat and mass transfer. They found that the response
time of the droplet temperature in saturated mixtures of 0.5 volume fraction shorter than for a mixture of 0.05 volume

020035-7
fraction. The internal resistance more affected the heat transfer in a larger droplet and high concentration of air as non-
condensable gas on steam. And the initial droplet velocity has a great effect on the temperature response of a small
droplet. For convince the previous research, Kulic and Rhodes [17] developed the model of direct contact condensation
of an air-steam mixture on a single droplet and conducted an experiment to determine the temperature response of the
droplets. Air and steam are mixed in a chamber. A hypodermic needle is used to produces 1.3 mm - 4 mm drop sizes.
A high-speed recorder was used for monitoring the droplet temperature response. The result showed the droplet
response time increased when the diameter droplet, the concentration of non-condensable gas and the droplet velocity
increase.
Sundararajan and Ayyaswamy in 1985 [18] presented model and numerical approach the heat and mass transport
of single moving droplet with the intermediate Reynold number 0(100) in a mixture environment of vapor and non-
condensable gas. The physical geometry of the single drop present in Fig. 7. R represents radius of droplet, U∞ is a
constant terminal velocity of air-steam mixture. The gaseous phase was analyzed as a quasi-steady and a boundary
layer approach was used to predict the condensation rate with a numerical series solution. They compared the various
convective and diffusive transport processes in time scale in gaseous phase and liquid phase. The heat transfer inside
the droplet was determined in a transient process with assumptions; 1) Surface tension in interface is large and
constant, 2) The interface is at thermodynamics equilibrium, 3) The properties of liquid phase is determined at droplet
bulk temperature, and for gaseous phase used one third rule, 4) Momentum transport and interfacial resistance are
neglected. Their results have presented the transport and flow with the combination of Reynold number of the gas
phase (Reg), condensation parameter (W), and Schmidt number (Sc). The forced convection flow is influenced by Reg.
The higher of W increase thermal driving force. The mass transfer boundary layer becomes thinner at higher Sc.

FIGURE 7. The geometry of the problem [18]

Ayyaswamy (1995)[19] reviewed analytical and numerical studies of direct-contact transfer processes with
moving liquid droplets. He classified the literature into three groups of studies: 1) Fluid-mechanics aspects of droplet
motion, 2) Heat and mass transport without phase change at the droplet surface, and 3) Heat and mass transport with
phase change at the droplet surface. In the conclusion, he said that he did not find the systematic studies of
condensation on various diameters of droplet and there is a change to study the effect of surfactant in condensation
and evaporation.
Recently, Gumruk and Aktas (2015) [20] experimentally investigated the effect of water spray flow rate and nozzle
configuration on the dehumidification process. A subcooled water sprayed into hot and humid air using a commercial
hollow cone nozzle. The temperature and relative humidity of experiment set in three conditions: 75°C - 80 %, 65° C

020035-8
- 80 %, and 65° C – 80% with the water spray flow rate 5 l/h and 11 l/h. They concluded that the humidity ratio of air
increase by higher water spray flow rate and maximum in counter flow configuration.
Resume of the main parameters and characteristic of the experimental studies condensation of steam on water
droplet are listed in Table 1.
TABLE 1. Experimental research of direct contact condensation on water droplets[6]
Author Parameters of Pure Droplet Drop Initial Steam Flow
Devices (mm) Steam/Mixture Size (mm) Velocity Pressure Arrangement
(m/s) (MPa)
Weinberg [8] Cylindrical vessel Pure steam 0.25 - 1 1.5 – 6.1
D:L = 609.6:914.4
Full cone nozzle

Ford and Cubical settling- Pure steam 1.51 – 1.71 -

Lekic [9] chamber

Lekic and Cylindrical chamber Pure steam 1.1 (max) 6 - 10 0.99, 0.138 Counter flow
Ford[10] D:L = 350:850
Full cone nozzle
Do; 6.4, 12.7, 0.95

Lee and Brass chamber Pure steam 0.67 – 1.32 2.23-9.4 Counter flow
Tankin [11] D:L = 250:300
Full cone nozzle
Do; 0.508, 0.584,
0,406, 0.445

Celata et al. Cylindrical vessel Pure steam 0.3 – 2.8 0.85 - 9 Up to 1 Cross flow
[13] flanged at the bottom
Multihole nozzle (ad
hoc system)
Do; 0.17, 0.25, 0.40,
0.61, 0.80, 1.5

Takahashi et Stainless steel Pure steam - 5.7-8.2 0.1-0.12 Parallel flow

al.[14] cylindrical vessel
D:L = 158:360
Hollow cone nozzle
Do; 3.6

Kulic and Pipe Steam – air 1.3 - 4 Counter flow

Rhodes [17] D = 50

Gumruk and Stainless steel tube Humid air - 1.4 dan 3 Counter flow
Aktas [20] Hollow cone nozzle Parallel flow

CONCLUSION
The researchers have studied in detail the condensation of pure steam on water droplets, but less in mixture steam
environment. The effects of NCG contain on steam (air) have been studied because its importance in nuclear power
industry, but it has not been found in the presence of CO2. There is a clearly need addition work due to direct contact
condenser drop type common used on geothermal power plants.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you for support of Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia
and Thermodynamics Laboratory Institut Teknologi Bandung.

020035-9
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