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Convective transport characteristics of condensing droplets in moist air flow

Wu, Zi Yi ; Yang, Li Tao ; Zheng, Shao Fei ; Gao, Shu Rong ; Yang, Yan Ru ; Gao, Tian ; Sunden, Bengt LU and Wang, Xiao Dong (2023) In Physics of Fluids 35(2).
Abstract

Condensation of convective moist air flow is a crucial physical process and is directly related to various industries. It is essential to understand the underlying growth mechanism of condensing droplets, while past studies have commonly considered convective transport with a negligible/simplified approach. In this work, a three-dimensional transient multiphysics coupling model was developed to investigate the transport characteristics of condensing droplets in convective moist air flow. This model typically interconnects heat transfer with vapor-liquid phase change, mass transport, and fluid flow. The results reveal that convective flow significantly dominates heat and mass transport during condensation. On the gas side, the incoming... (More)

Condensation of convective moist air flow is a crucial physical process and is directly related to various industries. It is essential to understand the underlying growth mechanism of condensing droplets, while past studies have commonly considered convective transport with a negligible/simplified approach. In this work, a three-dimensional transient multiphysics coupling model was developed to investigate the transport characteristics of condensing droplets in convective moist air flow. This model typically interconnects heat transfer with vapor-liquid phase change, mass transport, and fluid flow. The results reveal that convective flow significantly dominates heat and mass transport during condensation. On the gas side, the incoming flow thins the diffusion layer at the windward part with a large concentration gradient. However, a low vapor-concentration zone behind the droplet is formed due to the resulting rear-side vortex, which presents an increased influence as the contact angle increases. By forcing molecular diffusion with convection transport, vapor transport from surroundings to the condensing interface is enhanced several times depending on the Reynolds number. Within the droplet, the flow shearing at the interface is principally responsible for the strong internal convection, while the Marangoni effect is negligible. The internal flow greatly affects the droplet temperature profile with a large gradient close to the base. Finally, convective flow contributes to over 3.3 times higher overall heat transfer coefficient than the quiescent environment. In addition, in interaction-governed growth, transport characteristics depend on not only the size and space distributions of droplets but also the interaction between droplets and convective flow.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physics of Fluids
volume
35
issue
2
article number
027111
publisher
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85147799402
ISSN
1070-6631
DOI
10.1063/5.0134579
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
db72b1a3-652f-4c1b-b507-d682b123562f
date added to LUP
2023-02-21 12:52:33
date last changed
2023-11-21 09:20:54
@article{db72b1a3-652f-4c1b-b507-d682b123562f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Condensation of convective moist air flow is a crucial physical process and is directly related to various industries. It is essential to understand the underlying growth mechanism of condensing droplets, while past studies have commonly considered convective transport with a negligible/simplified approach. In this work, a three-dimensional transient multiphysics coupling model was developed to investigate the transport characteristics of condensing droplets in convective moist air flow. This model typically interconnects heat transfer with vapor-liquid phase change, mass transport, and fluid flow. The results reveal that convective flow significantly dominates heat and mass transport during condensation. On the gas side, the incoming flow thins the diffusion layer at the windward part with a large concentration gradient. However, a low vapor-concentration zone behind the droplet is formed due to the resulting rear-side vortex, which presents an increased influence as the contact angle increases. By forcing molecular diffusion with convection transport, vapor transport from surroundings to the condensing interface is enhanced several times depending on the Reynolds number. Within the droplet, the flow shearing at the interface is principally responsible for the strong internal convection, while the Marangoni effect is negligible. The internal flow greatly affects the droplet temperature profile with a large gradient close to the base. Finally, convective flow contributes to over 3.3 times higher overall heat transfer coefficient than the quiescent environment. In addition, in interaction-governed growth, transport characteristics depend on not only the size and space distributions of droplets but also the interaction between droplets and convective flow.</p>}},
  author       = {{Wu, Zi Yi and Yang, Li Tao and Zheng, Shao Fei and Gao, Shu Rong and Yang, Yan Ru and Gao, Tian and Sunden, Bengt and Wang, Xiao Dong}},
  issn         = {{1070-6631}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{American Institute of Physics (AIP)}},
  series       = {{Physics of Fluids}},
  title        = {{Convective transport characteristics of condensing droplets in moist air flow}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0134579}},
  doi          = {{10.1063/5.0134579}},
  volume       = {{35}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}