Laminar Film Condensation Model of Pure Steam in a Vertical Tube

In this study, a new model for calculating the liquid film thickness and condensation heat transfer coefficient in a vertical condenser tube is proposed by considering the effects of gravity, liquid viscosity, and vapor flow in the core region of the flow. In order to introduce the radial velocity profile in the liquid film, the liquid film flow was regarded to be in Couette flow dragged by the interfacial velocity at the liquid?vapor interface. For the calculation of the interfacial velocity, an empirical power ?law velocity profile had been introduced. The resulting liquid film thickness and heat transfer coefficient obtained from the proposed model were compared with the experimental data from other experimental study and the results obtained from the other condensation models. In conclusion, the proposed model physically explained the liquid film thinning effect by the vapor shear flow and predicted the condensation heat transfer coefficient from experiments reasonably well.