Convection: Boiling and

Condensation

Prepared by: Dr. Muhammad Mostafa Kamal

Bhuiya
Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, CUET
1
Lecture 23 & 24
 BOILI
Boiling NG Evaporation
Boiling is a phenomenon that occurs Evaporation occurs at the liquid–
at a solid-liquid interface when a vapor interface when the vapor
liquid is brought into contact with a pressure is less than the saturation
surface maintained at a temperature pressure of the liquid at a given
(Tw) sufficiently above the saturation temperature.
temperature (Tsat) of the liquid.

[The saturation temperature

is the temperature for a
corresponding saturation
pressure at which a liquid boils
into its vapor phase.]
Lecture 23 & 24 2
 Classification of boiling
Pool Boiling Flow Boiling
 Boiling is called pool boiling in  Boiling is called flow boiling in the
the absence of bulk fluid flow. presence of bulk fluid flow.
 Any motion of the fluid is due to  In flow boiling, the fluid is forced to
natural convection currents and move in a heated pipe or over a
the motion of the bubbles under surface by external means such as
the influence of buoyancy. a pump.

Lecture 23 & 24 3
 Classification of Pool boiling
Subcooled Boiling Saturated Boiling
 When the temperature of the  When the temperature of the liquid
main body of the liquid is below is equal to the saturation
the saturation temperature. temperature.

Lecture 23 & 24 4
 Flow Boiling - External Forced Convection
Boiling
• In flow boiling, the fluid is forced to move
by an external source such as a pump as it
undergoes a phase-change process.

• The boiling in this case exhibits the

combined effects of convection and pool
boiling.

• Flow boiling is classified as either external

and internal flow boiling.

 External flow ─ the higher the velocity, the

higher the nucleate boiling heat flux and
the critical heat flux.

Lecture 23 & 24 5
 Flow Boiling ─ Internal Flow
• The two-phase flow in a tube
exhibits different flow boiling
regimes, depending on the relative
amounts of the liquid and the
vapor phases.

• Typical flow regimes:

– Liquid single-phase flow,

– Bubbly flow,
– Slug flow,
– Annular flow,
– Mist flow,
– Vapor single-phase flow.

Lecture 23 & 24 6
 Flow Boiling ─ Internal Flow
• Liquid single-phase flow
– In the inlet region the liquid is subcooled and heat transfer to the liquid is
by forced convection (assuming no subcooled boiling).

• Bubbly flow
– Individual bubbles
– Low mass qualities

• Slug flow
– Bubbles coalesce into slugs of vapor.
– Moderate mass qualities

• Annular flow
– Core of the flow consists of vapor only, and liquid adjacent to the walls.
– Very high heat transfer coefficients

• Mist flow
– a sharp decrease in the heat transfer coefficient

• Vapor single-phase flow

– The liquid phase is completely evaporated and vapor is superheated.
Lecture 23 & 24 7
 Pool Boiling
Boiling takes different forms, depending on the DTexcess =Ts-
Tsat

Lecture 1 8
Different Boiling Regimes in Pool Boiling

9
 Natural Convection (to Point A on the Boiling
Curve)
• Bubbles do not form on the heating surface until the liquid is heated a
few degrees above the saturation temperature (about 2 to 6°C for water).
the liquid is slightly superheated in this case (metastable state).

• The fluid motion in this mode of boiling is governed by natural convection

currents.
• Heat transfer from the heating surface to the fluid is by natural
convection.
Nucleate Boiling
• The bubbles form at an
increasing rate at an increasing
number of nucleation sites as
we move along the boiling
curve toward point C.

• Region A–B ─isolated bubbles.

• Region B–C ─ numerous

continuous columns of vapor in 10
Lecture 23 & 24
Nucleate Boiling

Lecture 23 & 24 11
 Nucleate Boiling
• In region A–B the stirring and agitation caused by the entrainment
of the liquid to the heater surface is primarily responsible for the
increased heat transfer coefficient.
• In region A–B the large heat fluxes obtainable in this region are
caused by the combined effect of liquid entrainment and
evaporation.
• After point B the heat flux increases at a lower rate with increasing
DTexcess, and reaches a maximum at point C.
• The heat flux at this point is called the critical (or maximum)
heat flux, and is of prime engineering importance.
Parameters depend on nucleate
boiling

Lecture 23 & 24 12
 Transition Boiling
• When DTexcess is increased past point C, the
heat flux decreases.
• This is because a large fraction of the heater
surface is covered by a vapor film, which
acts as an insulation.
• In the transition boiling regime, both
nucleate and film boiling partially occur.

Lecture 1 13
Lecture 23 & 24
 Film Boiling
• Beyond Point D the heater surface is
completely covered by a continuous stable
vapor film.
• Point D, where the heat flux reaches a
minimum is called the Leidenfrost point.
• The presence of a vapor film between the
heater surface and the liquid is responsible for
the low heat transfer rates in the film boiling
region.
• The heat transfer rate increases with
increasing excess temperature due to
radiation to the liquid.

Lecture 23 & 24 14
 Heat Transfer Correlations in Pool Boiling ─ Nucleate
• Boiling
No general theoretical relations for heat transfer in the nucleate boiling
regime is available.
• Experimental based correlations are used.
• The rate of heat transfer strongly depends on the nature of nucleation and
the type and the condition of the heated surface.
• A widely used correlation proposed in 1952 by Rohsenow:

[Table: Ref. J. P.
where, Holman]

=1.0 for water and 1.7 for other liquids

Lecture 23 & 24 15
• The values in Rohsenow equation can be
used for any geometry since it is found
that the rate of heat transfer during
nucleate boiling is essentially
independent of the geometry and
orientation of the heated surface.
• The correlation is applicable to clean and
relatively smooth surfaces.
• Error for the heat transfer rate for a
given excess temperature: 100%.
• Error for the excess temperature for a
given heat transfer rate for the heat
transfer rate and by 30%.
Zuber has developed an analytical
expression for the peak heat flux in
nucleate boiling by considering the
stability requirements of the interface
between the vapor film and liquid. This
relation is
[Ref. J. P.
Holman]

[Ref. J. P. 16
Lecture 23 & 24
 Critical/Maximum Heat Flux (CHF)
The maximum (or critical) heat flux in nucleate pool boiling was determined
theoretically by S. S. Kutateladze in Russia in 1948 and N. Zuber in the United
States in 1958 to be:

C is a constant whose value depends on

the heater geometry, but generally is
about 0.15.

• The CHF is independent of the fluid–

heating surface combination, as well as
the viscosity, thermal conductivity, and
the specific heat of the liquid.
• The CHF increases with pressure up to
about one-third of the critical pressure,
and then starts to decrease and
becomes zero at the critical pressure.
• The CHF is proportional to hfg, and
large maximum heat fluxes can be
obtained using fluids with a large
enthalpy of vaporization, such as water. Lecture 23 & 24 17
 Minimum Heat Flux
• Minimum heat flux, which occurs at the
Leidenfrost point, is of practical interest
since it represents the lower limit for the
heat flux in the film boiling regime.

• Zuber derived the following expression for

the minimum heat flux for a large horizontal
plate.

• the relation above can be in error by 50% or

more.

Lecture 23 & 24 18
 Film Boiling
• The heat flux for film boiling on a horizontal
cylinder or sphere of diameter D is given by

where kv is the thermal conductivity of the

vapor in W/m.°C and

• The vapor properties are to be evaluated at the film temperature, given

as Tf = (Ts +Tsat)/2, which is the average temperature of the vapor film.
The liquid properties and hfg are to be evaluated at the saturation
temperature at the specified pressure.
• At high surface temperatures (typically above 300°C), heat transfer across
the vapor film by radiation becomes significant and needs to be
considered.
• The two mechanisms of heat transfer (radiation and convection) adversely
affect each other, causing the total heat transfer to be less than their sum.

Lecture 23 & 24 19
[Ref. Yunus
A. Cengel]

Lecture 23 & 24 20
Lecture 23 & 24 21
 [Ref. Yunus
A. Cengel]

22
Lecture 23 & 24
Lecture 1 23
 Heat
A heat pipe is a heat-transferPipe that
device combines the principles of both
thermal conductivity and phase transition to effectively transfer heat
between two solid interfaces.

24
Lecture 23 & 24
 Condensation
• Condensation occurs when the temperature of a vapor is reduced below its
saturation temperature.
• Only condensation on solid surfaces is considered in this chapter.
• Two forms of condensation:
 Film condensation, and
 Dropwise condensation.

Condensation: Physical Mechanisms or

Differentiate between Film condensation and
Dropwise condensation:
Film condensation
• The condensate wets the surface and forms a liquid film. Fig. Film
condensation
• The surface is blanketed by a liquid film which serves as
a resistance to heat transfer.
Dropwise condensation
• The condensed vapor forms droplets on the surface.
• The droplets slide down when they reach a certain size.
• No liquid film to resist heat transfer.
• As a result, heat transfer rates that are more than 10
times larger than with film condensation can be achieved. Fig. Dropwise
Lecture 23 & 24condensation 25
Fig. Condensation
pictures
Lecture 1 26
 Dropwise Condensation
• One of the most effective
mechanisms of heat transfer, and
extremely large heat transfer
coefficients can be achieved.

• Small droplets grow as a result of

continued condensation, coalesce
into large droplets, and slide down
when they reach a certain size.

• Large heat transfer coefficients

enable designers to achieve a
specified heat transfer rate with a
smaller surface area.

• If traces of oil are present in steam

and the condensing surface is
highly polished, the condensate film
breaks into droplets.Coating of the
condensing surface with gold,
silver, rhodium etc. produce
Lecture 23 & 24 27
 Film Condensation on a Vertical Plate
• Liquid film starts forming at the top of the
plate and flows downward under the
influence of gravity.
• δ increases in the flow direction x
• Heat in the amount hfg is released during
condensation and is transferred through the
film to the plate surface.
• Ts must be below the saturation
temperature for condensation.
• The temperature of the condensate is Tsat
at the interface and decreases gradually to
Ts at the wall.

Lecture 23 & 24 28
 Vertical Plate ─ Flow Regimes
• The dimensionless parameter controlling the
transition between regimes is the Reynolds
number defined as:

• Three prime flow regimes:

– Re<30 ─ Laminar (wave-free),

– 30<Re<1800 ─ Wavy-laminar,

– Re>1800 ─ Turbulent.

• The Reynolds number increases in the flow

direction.
Lecture 23 & 24 29
 Heat Transfer Correlations for
Film Condensation ─ Vertical
Assumptions: wall
1. Both the plate and the vapor are maintained at
constant temperatures of Ts and Tsat,
respectively, and the temperature across the
liquid film varies linearly.

2. Heat transfer across the liquid film is by pure

conduction.

3. The velocity of the vapor is low (or zero) so

that it exerts no drag on the condensate (no
viscous shear on the liquid–vapor interface).

4. The flow of the condensate is laminar (Re<30)

and the properties of the liquid are constant.

5. The acceleration of the condensate layer is

negligible.
Height L and width
Lecture 23 & 24 b
The liquid film thickness at x is determined to be

------------------------------ (1)

Rohsenow recommended that the cooling of the liquid below the

saturation temperature can be accounted for by replacing hfg by the
modified latent heat of vaporization h*fg instead of hfg defined as

where Cpl is the specific heat of the liquid at the average film temperature
If the vapor enters the condenser as superheated vapor at a temperature
Tv instead of as saturated vapor. In this case the vapor must be cooled first to
Tsat before it can condense, and this heat must be transferred to the wall as
well. The amount of heat released as a unit mass of superheated vapor at a
temperature Tv is cooled to Tsat is simply Cpv (Tv - Tsat), where Cpv is the specific
heat of the vapor at the average temperature of (Tv + Tsat)/2. The modified
latent heat of vaporization in this case becomes

Lecture 23 & 24 31
With these considerations, the rate of heat transfer can be expressed as

The heat transfer rate from the vapor to the plate at a location x can be
expressed as

Substituting the δ(x) expression from Eq. (1), the local heat transfer
coefficient
hx is determined to be

The average heat transfer coefficient over the entire plate is determined from
its definition by substituting the hx relation and performing the integration.
It gives

The average heat transfer coefficient for laminar film condensation over a
vertical flat plate of height L is determined to be

32
Lecture 23 & 24
 [Ref. Yunus
A. Cengel]

Lecture 23 & 24 33
The Nusselt number:

• The liquid properties are evaluated at the film temperature Tf = (Tsat +

Ts)/2.

• The vapor density and latent heat of vaporization hfg are evaluated at Tsat.
urbulent Flow on Vertical Plates
Define the Reynolds number

Flow regimes are:

– Laminar wave-free flow:

– Laminar wavy flow:

– Turbulent flow:
Lecture 23 & 24 34
 Turbulent Flow on Vertical Plates
Laminar waver-free regime:

Laminar wavy regime:

Turbulent regime:

35
Lecture 23 & 24
 Wavy Laminar Flow on Vertical
Plates
• The waves at the liquid–vapor interface tend to increase heat transfer.
• Knowledge is based on experimental studies.

• The increase in heat transfer due to the wave effect is, on average, about
20 percent, but it can exceed 50 percent.

• Based on his experimental studies, Kutateladze (1963) recommended the

following relation

Lecture 23 & 24 36
 Horizontal Tubes and Spheres
The average heat transfer coefficient for film condensation
on the outer surfaces of a horizontal tube is determined to
be

where D is the diameter of the horizontal tube. The above

Equation can easily be modified for a sphere by replacing
the constant 0.729 by 0.815.
A comparison of the heat transfer coefficient relations for a
vertical tube of height L and a horizontal tube of diameter D
yields

Horizontal Tube Banks

The average film condensation heat transfer coefficient
Fig. Film condensation
for all tubes in a vertical tier can be expressed as on a vertical tier of
horizontal tubes

Lecture 23 & 24 37
 [Ref. Yunus
A. Cengel]

Lecture 1 38
Lecture 23 & 24 [Ref. Yunus A. 39
Lecture 1 40
 [Ref. Yunus
A. Cengel]

Lecture 23 & 24 41
Lecture 23 & 24 42
Lecture 23 & 24 43