Chemical Engineering Department

Multiphase Thermodynamics

LABORATORY REPORT #4

Name: Elvin Garashli

Experiment title: Condensation Process

Date of experiment: 12 March 2021

Date of submission: 4 April 2021

Supervisor: Amir Reza Vakhshouri

Contents
Synopsis.............................................................................................................. 2
Introduction........................................................................................................ 2
Theory ................................................................................................................ 3
Experimental technique ...................................................................................... 6
Equipment and Apparatus ........................................................................................................................ 6
Procedure.................................................................................................................................................. 7
Safety ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Results ................................................................................................................ 8
Discussion ......................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 13
References ........................................................................................................ 14

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Synopsis
The report below delineates key concepts to have a deeper understanding about the
process of condensation and the working principles of condensers. The two types of
condensation mechanisms namely filmwise and dropwise are investigated deeply and the results,
heat transfer coefficient – 𝜶, heat transition coefficient – 𝒌, and heat flux – q are evaluated for
both types and comprehensively compared. Furthermore, the effect of non-condensing gas to
the condensation is investigated by providing certain amount of air to the water vapor medium.
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
The calculated experimental results are 8.79 for filmwise, and 11.23𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for dropwise
𝑚2 ∙𝐾
condensation in absence of non-condensing gases. Theoretical value for the α in this case is
𝑘𝑊
8.38𝑚2 ∙𝐾 which reveals 4.88% small deviation. The values are very close to the results from the
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
simulation itself which are 8.7𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for filmwise and 10.46𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for the dropwise one. Introducing
non-condensable gases to the medium of water vapor significantly decreases the efficiency with
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
2.13 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for filmwise and 2.05 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for dropwise condensation.

The introduction part consists of the overall significance of the condensers, along with
the essential information about conducted experimentation by delivering fundamental facts,
such as types of condensation, industry application, industrial significance of condensers and so
on. The following section provides detailed information about process of condensation and
working principle of the utilized device as well as all necessary equations which are sufficient to
profoundly grasp the concept and evaluate the required data. In experimental technique section,
equipment and experimental procedure along with several safety precautions are mentioned.
Following this, the results are evaluated and required parameters are determined. As soon as all
unknown variables are derived, the possible causes of the deviations and remarkable suggestions
are provided while discussing the results. In the end all the work is summarized and concluded
by indicating the final derivations.

Introduction
Condensation is the process where a substance in gas phase releases the latent heat of
vaporization and becomes liquid. Condensation happens in nature very frequently (formation of
water molecules in clouds, dew, so on.). Apart from nature, condensation also applies to various
industries which makes it quite vital for the chemical engineering. Condensation happens in two
different forms, namely filmwise and dropwise condensation. In filmwise condensation vapor
fluid condenses on a hydrophilic material where all liquids create a thin film on the surface of
material. However, the mechanism of dropwise condensation states that the vapor molecules

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condense on a hydrophobic surface and cannot create thin layer of liquid, but instead droplets
of that liquid are formed. Although creation of thin film of liquid is more frequent than the
dropwise condensation in industrial processes, because of its higher performance, dropwise is
more favored mechanism. Nevertheless, maintaining stable dropwise condensation is not always
possible. Hence, it is required to make an assumption where only filmwise condensation is
considered as the mechanism of condensation while designing condensers. Condensers are the
devices where condensation process occurs and can be found in various industries, including but
not limited to oil&gas industry. For example, in distillation columns, condensers are utilized to
liquify the overhead product and sustaining both overhead product of distillation and the optimal
operating temperature of the column. The other applications of condensers can be the air
conditioning systems, steam power plants, food, pharmaceutical industries, and many other heat
exchanging systems.

To emphasize the significance of the condensers, a small-scale laboratory experiment was

conducted to expand our scope of knowledge with regards to dropwise and filmwise
condensation. The objective of the experimentation is comparing the efficiency of filmwise and
dropwise condensing processes by evaluating heat transfer coefficient, heat transition
coefficient, and heat flux. To achieve a satisfactory resolution and have comparable results, the
experiment is conducted with the help of WL 230 unit. As in all experiments, whenever a
measurement is carried out, some inaccuracies came into the display which is basically inevitable.

Theory
Condensation is a process where
gas molecules emit certain amount of
latent energy and becomes lower enthalpy
liquid molecules. Since the latent heat is
released during the process, condensation
is exothermic. This happens when there is a
contact between the gas molecules and
some other substance whose saturation
temperature is lower than the condensing
gas. This substance can be in any phase, i.e.,
gas (formation of fog), liquid, or solid.
Condensing of gases onto solid surfaces can
occur in two types as it was stated in
introduction section: filmwise and Figure 1: Filmwise and Dropwise condensation

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dropwise condensation. The nucleation type between two processes make dropwise
condensation distinct from filmwise one. In film type condensation there is a continuous layer of
condensed liquid which is attached to hydrophilic surface and becomes thicker going down due
to the effect of gravitation. This film creates another resistance layer for the gas to transfer its
latent heat to cooler surface of the solid. On the other hand, droplets of condensed vapor cannot
become attached to the cold solid surface because of its hydrophobic(non-wetting) behavior.
Since there is no additional layer that prevents the heat transfer between the steam and the cold
surface, it is theoretically expected to have a much better (around 10 times) efficiency, i.e., higher
heat transfer coefficient for the dropwise condensation rather than the filmwise one. To establish
the dropwise condensation it is needed to have hydrophobic, perfectly smooth surface. It is true
that many bare metals are hydrophobic and have a contact angle more than 90°. However, most
of them are covered with the oxide layer very quickly leading to filmwise condensation as time
passes. Condenser heat exchangers are generally made of these oxidizing metals. The metal
surface can be coated with non-oxidizing metals, such as platinum, gold, chromium, etc.
However, in large industrial scale it is not economically viable to have such coatings. To
demonstrate these difference, copper (wetting) and gold (non-wetting) coated rods are utilized
inside the column to observe the difference of film and dropwise condensation.

There are several factors apart from temperature difference and wettability that affect
the condensation rate. One of the most significant influencer is the existence of non-condensing
gas inside the condenser. As steam is condensed on the surface non-condensable gas like air
accumulates on surface as well which creates obstacle for the steam to give its energy to cold
surface. In addition to that, presence of non-condensable gases decreases both concentration
and vapor pressure of condensable gases.

While conducting experiment, the pressure decreased below the atmospheric pressure
to create a partial vacuum which decreases the temperature of condensation. As the vapor inside
column condenses the physical properties of the system change as well. Therefore, we can apply
Clapeyron – Clasius equation to our system:
𝑟 𝑇2 −𝑇1
∙( )
𝑃2 = 𝑃1 ∙ 𝑒 𝑅 𝑇1 ∙𝑇2 (1)

𝑃1 → 𝑉𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑇1 (𝑃𝑎)

𝑃2 → 𝑉𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑇2 (𝑃𝑎)

𝑟 → 𝐸𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑝𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑘𝐽⁄𝑘𝑔)

𝑅 → 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 (𝑘𝐽⁄𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙 ∙ 𝐾)

𝑇1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇2 → 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 (𝐾)

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 In industrial scale, both laminar and turbulent flow regimes exist as condensate flows.
However, due its small size, in our experiment only existence of laminar flow can be assumed to
calculate heat transfer coefficient for vertical laminar flow:

4 𝜆3 ∙𝜌∙𝑔∙𝑟
𝛼𝑙,𝑣𝑒𝑟 = 0.943 ∙ √ (2)
𝜈∙ℎ∙(𝑇 −𝑇 𝑠 𝑤)

𝛼𝑙,𝑣𝑒𝑟 → 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑘𝑊 ⁄𝑚2 𝐾)

𝜆 → 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑊 ⁄𝑚𝐾)

𝜌 → 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑘𝑔⁄𝑚3 )

𝑔 → 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑚⁄𝑠 2 )

𝜈 → 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑉𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚2 ⁄𝑠)

ℎ → 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 (𝑚)

𝑇𝑠 → 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 (𝐾)

𝑇𝑤 → 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑙 (𝐾)

It is worthwhile to note that, several parameters, such as thermal conductivity, density

and so on should be determined according to average temperature of steam and wall
temperature:
𝑇𝑠 +𝑇𝑤
𝑇𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑,𝑎 = (3)
2

To calculate the heat transfer coefficient experimentally, it is required to evaluate the

amount of heat flow by below equation:

𝑄̇ = 𝜌 ∙ 𝑉̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑃 ∙ (𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 − 𝑇𝑖𝑛 ) (4)

𝑄̇ → 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑘𝐽⁄ℎ)

𝑉̇ → 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤 (𝐿⁄ℎ)

𝑐𝑃 → 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑘𝐽⁄𝑘𝑔 𝐾 )

𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡 → 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝐾)

𝑇𝑖𝑛 → 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝐾)

Again, in above equation, density and specific heat capacity values should be related with
the average temperature of cooling agent:

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 𝑇𝑖𝑛 +𝑇𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔,𝑎 = (5)
2

After finding heat flow, it is possible to experimental heat transfer coefficient:

𝑄̇
𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑝 = (6)
𝐴∙(𝑇𝑠 −𝑇𝑤 )

𝐴 → 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑚2 )

Heat flux is other characteristic parameter which is calculated with below formula:
𝑄̇
𝑞̇ = (7)
𝐴

To define the proportionality between heat flux and difference of steam and cooling
agent temperature heat transition coefficient equation can be utilized:
𝑄̇
𝑘= (8)
𝐴∙(𝑇𝑠 −𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛,𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 )

𝑘 → 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑘𝑊 ⁄𝑚2 𝐾 )

Experimental technique
Equipment and Apparatus
The main apparatus used during the experiment was named WL 230 which was a design
of GUNT Hamburg Company. This equipment provides an opportunity to collect and save the
whole experimental data on PC software by using USB connection. The structure of device WL
230 is comprised by a condensation tank, gold and copper condensers, cooling water lines, outlet
water lines, drum for condensate separation, heater, regulators, water jet pump, valves and
sensors. In the schematic diagram of the unit given below one can easily obtain needed
information regarding to the process taking place inside the unit. To begin with, jet pump is
shown with letter P, while V letter is for valves and W illustrates heat exchangers. In addition to
this, cold water line is in blue color and red color shows hot water streams leaving the
condensers. B1 represents condensation column, whilst condensate separation drum is depicted
with B2.

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 Figure 2: Scheme of WL 230

Procedure
There are some steps to follow during the implementation of experiment
processing. Once all safety rules are obeyed, the steps in the flowing section can be
applied:
➢ Start the overall equipment.
➢ Close the vent valve which is located on the top of column.
➢ Open water stream V3 and then to create vacuum environment in the tank open
the air line.
➢ Close the air and water lines of jet pump when nearly 0.4 bar pressure is reached.
➢ Fill the flask with distilled water and place related hose into this flask. Open the
valve so that column is filled with water.
➢ After opening Valve 8 open inlet valves for both types of condensers.
➢ Turn on the heater. When needed power value is seen on display and steam
temperature is 92°C, switch off the heater.
➢ To create vacuum again close valve number 8. Then condensation process takes
place and once pressure inside column is 0.3 bar, close jet pump streams.
➢ Here condensers’ inlet water valves are opened fully.
➢ Finally, open valve number 4. If pressure reaches 0.9 bar, close valve 4 gain.

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 Safety
During experiment several rules must be taken into consideration:
✓ Firstly, everyone in the area of laboratory should wear lab coats, protective gloves
and glasses.
✓ Before starting the unit overall equipment and its parts/hoses should be checked.
✓ Cold water must not be added into the empty hot tank.
✓ In the experimentation temperature may rise up to 90-100 °C. Because of this, in
order to avoid burns do not touch hot parts of equipment.
✓ Since there is a risk of electric shock, electric related sections must be protected
from water and moisture.
✓ This equipment is designed to work properly in case of usage of distilled water. Do
not add any other additives to the inlet of apparatus.

Results
In this part of the report, the results of the experiment are evaluated, and comparisons
are made. Firstly, it is needed to select data where the steam temperature is 20 °C more than the
surface temperature of condensing rods. In addition to that, to observe the effect of non-
condensing gas on the condensation process, a valve is opened, and air entered our system. To
make a comparison, one data point is selected where there is air presence in our system. In table
below the selected data points and their conditions are stated:
Table 1: Selected data

p1
Properties: V1 V2 T1 (°C) T2 (°C) T3 (°C) T4 (°C) T5 (°C) T6 (°C) T7 (°C)
(bar)
Without Air 150 140 14.6 18.9 50 14.6 19.9 52 70 0.27
With Air 17 39 15.7 24.9 67.5 15.8 20.8 61.6 87.5 0.99
Firstly, it is required to evaluate the theoretical heat transfer coefficient (alpha). To start
with, the mean temperature of the steam and surface temperature is calculated with the
equation below:
70 ℃+50 ℃
𝑇𝑙𝑖𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑑,𝑎 = = 60 ℃
2

After calculating all required mean temperatures, needed conditions are determined
using the simulation software Aspen HYSYS. The parameters are depicted in table below:
Table 2: Physical properties

0.27 bar 0.99 bar

Conditions
60 °C 61 °C 77.5 °C 74.55 °C

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 Density ρ kg/m3 983.162 982.645 973.400 975.100
Thermal conductivity λ W/mK 0.654 0.655 0.668 0.667
Viscosity ν cSt 0.475 0.468 0.366 0.380
Heat of Vaporization r j/kg 2343184.4 2343184.4 2260281.6 2260281.6

Now, the heat transfer coefficient can be calculated using particular equation. In manual,
the height of the column is written as 0.107 m:

4 0.6543 ∙983.16∙9.81∙2343.18 𝑘𝑊
𝛼𝑙,𝑣𝑒𝑟 = 0.943 ∙ √ = 8.38
4.75∙10−7 ∙0.107∙(70−50) 𝑚2 ∙𝐾

After that, average value of inlet and outlets of cooling water is calculated using particular
equation and the temperature data are tabulated into tables:
14.6 ℃+18.9 ℃
𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔,𝑎 = = 16.25 ℃
2

Table 3: Temperature table for air absent case

Properties Ts Tw Tliquid,a Tin Tout T cooling,a

Filmwise 70 50 60 14.6 18.90 16.75
Dropwise 70 52 61 14.6 19.90 17.25

Table 4: Temperature table for air present case

Properties Ts Tw Tliquid,a Tin Tout T cooling,a

Film-wise 87.5 67.5 77.5 15.7 24.90 20.30
Drop-wise 87.5 61.6 74.55 15.8 20.80 18.30

According to pressure and mean cooling agent temperatures, density and specific heat
capacity values are taken from HYSYS software and with the help of equation below the heat flow
is estimated:

𝑘𝑔 𝑚3 𝑘𝐽
𝑄̇ = 998.90 ∙ 4.17 ∙ 10 −5
∙ 4.184 ∙ (18.9 ℃ − 14.6 ℃) = 0.749 𝑘𝑊
𝑚3 𝑠 𝑘𝑔 ∙ 𝐾

Values for density, specific heat capacity, and heat flow are illustrated in table below:
Table 5: Heat transfer values

Without Air With Air

ρ (kg/m3) Cp (kj/kgC) Q (kW) ρ (kg/m3) Cp (kj/kgC) Q (kW)
Filmwise 998.90 4.18 0.75 999.03 4.18 0.34
Dropwise 998.73 4.18 0.86 998.99 4.18 0.39

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 Finding heat flow allows us to calculate experimental heat transfer coefficient, heat flux,
and heat transition coefficient with equations below:
0.749 𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑝 = 0.00426 𝑚2∙(70℃−50℃) = 8.79 𝑚2 ∙𝐾

0.749 𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
𝑘 = 0.00426 𝑚2∙(70 ℃−16.25 ℃) = 3.30 𝑚2 ∙𝐾

0.749 𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
𝑞̇ = 0.00426 𝑚2 = 175.76 𝑚2

As soon as all alpha, k, and q values are carried out, the results are tabulated into below
table with the deviation between the experimental and theoretical values where possible:
Table 6: Final Results

Experimental Experimental Relative

Properties Theoretical
(from simulation) (from calculation) Deviation
alpha 8.38 8.70 8.79 4.88%
Filmwise

q - 175.90 175.76 -
k - 3.30 3.30 -
Without Air

alpha - 10.46 11.23 -

Dropwise

q - 189.90 202.15 -
k - 3.60 3.83 -
alpha 8.98 2.00 2.13 76.27%
Filmwise

q - 40.80 42.62 -
k - 0.61 0.63 -
alpha - 2.01 2.05 -
Dropwise
With Air

q - 52.10 53.14 -
k - 0.75 0.77 -

10 | P a g e
 Moreover, the proportionality of vapor pressure and temperature is plotted into graph
below:

Vapor Pressure vs Temperature plot

1

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
Pressure

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
68

68.4

72.2
67.9
67.9
68
68.1
68.3
68.4

68.6
68.7
68.8
68.8
69.1
69.1
69.3
69.6
69.9
70
70.4
70.8
71.2
71.7

72.9
73.8
74.8
76.2
78.3
80.5
82.8
85.6
88.7
91.8
94.2
95
Temperature

Graph 1: Vapor Pressure vs Temperature Graph

Discussion
The obtained values and graphs are discussed in this section. Before beginning, it is
noteworthy to mention the objectives of the experiment once more. The aim was collecting heat
transfer coefficient, heat flux, and heat transition coefficient and compare them for filmwise and
dropwise cases. In addition to that, the effect of the presence of non-condensable gas in the
condensing mixture was to be investigated.

The experiment was conducted with the help of WL 230 unit. The GUNT software had
recorded all the parameters during experiment and at the end, all of them are tabulated into
excel file and the required variables are evaluated. Inside the output of GUNT, 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 together
with 𝑇4 and 𝑇5 illustrate the inlet and outlet values of filmwise and dropwise condensation,
respectively. From Table 1, 3, and 4, it can be deduced that the difference of temperature
between steam and the condensing rod surface is always higher in dropwise case than filmwise
condensation. This completely satisfies the theory since the surface of the filmwise condenser is
continuously covered with a layer of condensed gas, which slightly increases the surface

11 | P a g e
temperature. Moreover, as the heat flow, heat transfer coefficient and other parameters are
figured out, it becomes crystal clear that all these values are higher for dropwise condensation
than filmwise case. Contrarily, when there is an existence of air inside the column, one can notice
the heat transfer coefficient is higher for the filmwise condensation. This does not satisfy the
theory indeed. However, the reason behind this phenomenon can be explained by significant
difference between surface temperatures of the condensing rods. As the temperature difference
increases the heat transfer coefficient decreases for the same amount of heat flow. To find alpha,
and other parameters, it is required to have density, viscosity, heat of vaporization, etc. values.
Since the inlet and outlet temperatures, or steam and wall temperatures are significantly
different form each other, having mentioned parameters in different conditions would result in
tremendous variations. Thus, we utilized mean temperature for both case which helped us to
further continue our calculations.

As regards the analysis of the principal targets of this experimentation, two methods,
namely theoretical and experimental are utilized to determine the heat transfer and transition
coefficients, and heat density values, and all the consequences are provided in a tabular way in
the Results part. As represented, the dropwise condensation has higher heat transfer coefficient
compared to the filmwise condensation for all methods. There are some reasons for this. Initially,
the wettability characteristics of the surfaces coated with copper and gold differ. Copper is a fully
hydrophilic substance; hence, it holds water molecules close to the surface. As a result, thin water
layer is formed on the surface of the copper tube. Considering the liquid is in the laminar flow
regime, it is apparent that a significant amount of the heat moves through this film. By reason of
this transfer-by-transfer method, the significant amount of energy is lost. As regards the analysis
of the principal targets of this experimentation, two methods, namely theoretical and
experimental are utilized to determine the heat transfer and transition coefficients, and heat
density values, and all the consequences are provided in a tabular way in the Results part. As
represented, the dropwise condensation has higher heat transfer coefficient compared to the
filmwise condensation for all methods. There are some reasons for this. Initially, the wettability
characteristics of the surfaces coated with copper and gold differ. Copper is a fully hydrophilic
substance; hence, it holds water molecules close to the surface. As a result, thin water layer is
formed on the surface of the copper tube. Considering the liquid is in the laminar flow regime, it
is apparent that a significant amount of the heat moves through this film. By reason of this
transfer-by-transfer method, the significant amount of energy is lost. The effect of non-
condensable gases is also investigated. By looking at table 6, we can compare the values for alpha,
q, and k for both filmwise and dropwise cases where there is no air in system with the air present
case. At the end we can conclude that all the parameters are lower for air introduced systems in
both filmwise and dropwise condensation systems. The obtained values of the heat transfer
coefficient are in the theoretical range of both condensation types. With reference to the heat

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density and heat transition coefficient, they are also greater for the dropwise condensation
compared to the filmwise condensation due to the abovementioned reasons.

Another objective of the investigation that is carried out is to plot the P-T diagram, where
the dependency of the vapor pressure and the temperature is demonstrated. Actually, the
pressure values’ dependency on the temperature, boundary effects could be found by applying
Clapeyron equation, but it is not effective in large scale and can be time consuming. On the other
hand, as in the process the continuous condensation is going, the pressure values of the column
that are taken are considered as the vapor pressures. The data set for the changing of the
pressure from the vacuum to atmospheric pressure by opening V8 vent valve is utilized. And it
can be clearly observed from the graph 1, that as the pressure increases, the temperature also
rises. In higher temperature although, the effect of the temperature difference is higher in the
steam.

Comparison of calculated values with simulation values showed some relative errors that
may stem from the experimentation procedure. As a cause of deviation, poor maintenance of
device can be indicated. Since dropwise condensers are very sensible against scale formation,
small amount of additional film on them would affect heat transfer in considerable scale. It is
very crucial to keep continuous maintenance of device before each experimentation.
Additionally, tap water was used as a cooling agent in the system. It is obvious that tap water
contains some minerals and impurities inside which can damage the device and lead to imprecise
measurements. Furthermore, during vacuum condensation, it cannot be sure that all the air as a
non-condensable gas was removed from the column totally. Since small amount can affect heat
transfer efficiency greatly, it is also possible that at 0.3 bar pressure, there was still some amount
of air inside and hindered the maximum capacity of heat transfer.

Conclusion
Condensation is a vital process in industry with its numerous applications. It is important
for a process engineer to have a deep grasp of notion. To expand our scope of knowledge about
condensation process and the mechanism in condensers, a small-scale laboratory experiment
was conducted. The main objective of the experiment was comparing two distinct types of
condensation and observing the effect of introduction of non-condensable gases into our system.
During experimentation process WL 230 unit by GUNT was utilized to provide all required devices
and fluids. The unit has a column which equipped with heater to boil the water and two
condenser rods which are coated with metals – matte copper (for filmwise) and gold (for
dropwise). The unit also provide cold water circulation through condensers and a jet valve to

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both cool the gas that comes from the column and to create partial vacuum inside column. The
unit also has multiple sensors, valves, and adjusters to create optimal conditions for the
condensation process. Along with hardware, GUNT software records all the process and outputs
into single file which was used in our case to calculate the required variables and plot insightful
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
graphs. The calculated experimental results are 8.79 for filmwise, and 11.23𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for
𝑚2 ∙𝐾
dropwise condensation in absence of non-condensing gases. Theoretical value for the α in this
𝑘𝑊
case is 8.38𝑚2 ∙𝐾 which reveals 4.88% small deviation. The values are very close to the results from
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
the simulation itself which are 8.7𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for filmwise and 10.46𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for the dropwise one. In the
𝑘𝑊
case when there is presence of non-condensable gas, the result was 2.13 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for filmwise and
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
2.05 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for dropwise. The heat flux and heat transition coefficients are evaluated at 175.76 𝑚2
𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊 𝑘𝑊
and 3.3 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for filmwise condensation, and 202.15 𝑚2 and 3.83 𝑚2 ∙𝐾 for dropwise process when
there is no air. Introducing non-condensable to the system significantly reduces the efficiency
and figures for heat transfer coefficient, heat flux, and heat transition coefficient. The relative
deviation for the case when there is no air is 4.88% and 76.27% for the case when there is air in
the system. Apart from these values, dependency of pressure from temperature was investigated
thoroughly. Overall, there is small deviation for the pure steam case, but the deviation
significantly increased for the other one. The required parameters for the filmwise and dropwise
condensation was obtained. The substantial effect of the existence of non-condensable gases in
the gas mixture was observed and thus, the objectives of the experiment has been successfully
achieved.

References
1. J.P.Holman. (n.d.). Heat and Mass Transfer. 10th edition.

2. Instruction Manual, WL 230 Condensation Processes, by G.U.N.T, Last modification by: Dipl.-
Ing. J.Boxhammer

3. Pandey, S. (n.d.). Dropwise and Filmwise condensation. International Journal of Scientific &
Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 4.
4. C., P. E. (n.d.). Process Engineering C. H. W. University.

5. YUNUS A. ÇENGEL, AFSHIN J. GHAJAR. (2015). Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals &
Applications, Fifth edition. New-York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza.
6. R.W.Serth (2007). Process Heat Transfer and Applications (p. 540). Academic Press.

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