KNC 3221 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY IV

EXPERIMENT 1: FILM AND DROPWISE CONDENSATION

SEMESTER 2 - SESSION 2018/2019

Name : Amni Syazwani Binti Azman (58456)

: Muhammad Nur Adib Bin Ramli (58837)
: Rereina anak Dovid@David (59140)

Lecturer : Mr Mohd Farid Atan

Group No.: 4
Submission Date: 18.03.2019

Bachelor of Engineering with Honours

(Chemical Engineering)

2019
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 3

1. INTRODUCTION 4

1.1 AIM AND OBJECTIVES 4

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 4

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 5

3. METHODOLOGY 6

3.1 GENERAL START UP 6

3.2 OPERATIONAL PROCEDURE 6
3.3 GENERAL SHUT-DOWN 7

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 8

5. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 12

REFERENCES 13

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 Abstract

This laboratory report portrays the different behavior of condensation. A vapor

undergoes condensation process when its temperature is decreased below saturated
temperature. Two types of condensation are film and dropwise condensation. Different
condensation carries different properties, heat flux, and surface heat transfer coefficient.
Comparisons are made between these modes to find the one that has the best efficiency
in heat transfer. The experiment was carried out using SOLTEQ Film and Dropwise
Condensation Unit (Model: HE163). The model gives clear practical applications of heat
transfer. The data obtained are analyzed and after further investigation, dropwise
condensation has better heat coefficient than filmwise condensation.

Keyword: Condensation, Filmwise, Dropwise, Heat transfer coefficient

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1. Introduction

Condensation is a physical change of states in phases from gas to liquid. The

substance is in gas phase originally whereby the molecules have high energy and collision
and upon losing energy, the molecules slowed down thus, changing into a liquid. A simple
example of condensation is when liquid drops are formed on the outside of a cold soda on
a hot day. The water molecules in the air as vapor hit the cold surface of the tin can, turns
into liquid water forming drops outside of the tin can. Condensation takes place in two
different ways which are film condensation and dropwise condensation. The nature of
condensation depends on the property of the liquid formed in which it wets or not upon
contact with a solid surface.

Film condensation occurs when the condensate wets the surface and liquid film
will form on the surface and it slides down due to gravity (Cengel & Ghajar, 2015). Surface
texture, liquid viscosity, and other properties will affect the thickness of the film produced.
In dropwise condensation, the condensate does not form a film, instead, it forms droplets
which dropped due to mass under gravity. These condensations affect heat transfer of a
process that will further influence the productivity as well as production or maintenance
cost.

1.1 Aim and Objectives

The aim of this experiment is to visualize and study the heat flux and heat transfer
coefficient for filmwise and dropwise condensation process and to understand the best
mode for an efficient heat transfer. The objectives of this experiment are:

i. To determine the film wise heat flux and surface heat transfer coefficient at
constant pressure
ii. To calculate the dropwise heat and surface heat transfer coefficient at constant
pressure

1.2 Problem Statement

This experiment can be applied to many industries that are trying to improve heat
transfer in a process. Both film and dropwise condensation can deliver heat, however, the
effectiveness in heat transfer are different. Hence, this experiment is conducted to study
and differentiate which condensation mechanism has better efficiency.

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2. Literature Review

Condensation is a deposition of liquid or solid from its vapour which are generally
upon a surface that is cooler than the adjacent gas. A substance condenses when the
pressure exerted by its vapour exceeds the vapour pressure of the liquid or solid phase of
the substance at the temperature of the surface where condensation occurs. Heat is
released when a vapour condenses. Unless this heat is removed, the surface temperature
will increase until it is equal to that of the surrounding vapour.

For dropwise condensation, according to Pandey (2012), by specially treating the

condensing surface the contact angle can be changed & the surface become ‘non –
wettable’. As the stream condenses a large number of generally spherical beads cover the
surface. As the condensation proceeds, the bead become larger, coalesce, and then strike
downwards over the surface. The moving bead gathers all the static bead along its
downward in its trail (Pandey, 2012). The ‘bear’ surface offers very little resistance to the
transfer of heat and very high heat fluxes therefore possible. Unfortunately, due to the
nature of the material used in the construction of condensing heat exchangers, filmwise
condensation is normal. (Although many bare metal surfaces are ‘non-wettable’ this not
is true of the oxide film which quickly covers the bare material).

In film wise condensation, the surface over which the steam condenses is wet-able
and hence, as the steam condenses, a film of condensate is formed. Generally, film wise
condensation results in low heat transfer rates as the film of condensate impedes the heat
transfer. The thickness of the film formed depends on many parameters including
orientation of the surface, viscosity, and also rate of condensation (Forbes Marshall, 2019).

The heat exchanger design can be conducted commonly by logarithmic mean

temperature difference (LMTD) as given by the following relation:

Two - Twi
LMTD = (𝟐. 𝟏)
T𝑠 - T𝑤i
ln ( )
T𝑠 - T𝑤o

The amount of heat supplied to the cooling water is calculated from the following equation:

Q o = mw ∙ cpw ∙ (Two - Twi ) (𝟐. 𝟐)

The overall heat transfer coefficient is calculated as:

Qo
Uo = (𝟐. 𝟑)
Ao ∙ LMTD

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3. Methodology

3.1 General Start Up

1. The main switch is ensured to be in off position to disable any power supply.

2. To set the power to minimum, the power regulator knobs are turned fully anti-
clockwise.

3. Valves V1 to V6 are checked to ensure that it is closed to avoid any release of

pressure. The heater power was remained in off position before filling the water
to the heater to prevent the faulty of the heater.

4. The chamber is filled with distilled water until the water level stays between
the heater and baffles plates. The heater is ensured fully immersed in the water
throughout the experiment. The chamber is filled with water through the drain
valve with the vent valve, V4 opened to release all the pressure. Then the vent
valve V4 is closed.
5. By controlling the control valve according to experimental procedure, the water
flow rate is adjusted to the condenser.
6. The main switch and the heater switch are turned on. The heater power is set
by rotating the power regulator clockwise to increase the heater power.

7. The water temperature reading is observed where the water temperature

should increase when it starts to heat up.

8. The water is heated up to boiling point till the pressure reaches 1.02-1.10 bar.
Valve V1 is opened immediately, followed by valve V4 for 1 minute to vacuum
out the air inside condenser. Valves V1 and V4 is closed.

9. The system is let to stabilize. Measurement is taken for experimental purposes.

Adjustment is made if necessary.
3.2 Operational Procedure

A. Filmwise condensation

1. With the value of 0.2 LPM, the cooling water is circulated through the filmwise
condenser.

2. The heater power is adjusted to obtain the desired pressure at 1.01 bar.

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3. The steam (Tsat) & surface temperature (Tsurf), Tin (T1) & Tout (T2), and flowrate is
recorded when the condition is stabilized.
4. The experiment is repeated with the value of 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 LPM.

B. Dropwise condensation

1. With the value of 0.4 LPM, the cooling water is circulated through a film wise
condenser.

2. The heater power is adjusted to obtain desired pressure at 1.01 bar.

3. The steam (Tsat) & surface temperature (Tsurf), Tin (T3) & Tout (T4), and flowrate is
recorded when the condition is stabilized.
4. The experiment is repeated with the value of 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 LPM.

3.3 General Shut-Down

1. By turning the knob fully anti-clockwise, the voltage control knob is turned to 0 Volt
position. The cooling water is kept flowing for at least 5 minutes through the condenser
to cool them down.

2. The main switch and power supply are switched off.

3. The water supply is closed and the cooling water connection tubes are disconnected if
necessary. Otherwise, the connection tubes are leaved for next experiment.

4. Using the discharge valve, the water inside the chamber is discharged.

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4. Results and Discussion

Table 4.1 Filmwise Condensation

Flow Power Tin Tout Tsat Tsurf Tsat-Tsurf q U

Rate (W) (℃) (℃) (℃) (℃) (℃)
∆Tm
(℃) (W) ᶲ (W/m2.K)
(LPM) (W/m2)
0.2 387 31.6 32.3 99.7 49.6 50.1 31.95 3,819.027333 945,953.2 29,608.48
0.4 417 29.5 31 99.8 29.9 69.9 30.24 7,660.38 1,897,436 62,738.02
0.6 451 29.1 30.5 99.8 29.4 70.4 29.79 11,486.384 2,845,118 95,491.31
0.8 538 27.9 28.8 100.5 40.55 59.95 28.35 15,287.272 3,786,578 13,3576.6
1 546 29 29.9 100.35 37.3 63.05 29.45 19,109.09 4,733,222 16,0733.1

Table 4.2 Dropwise Condensation

Flow Power Tin Tout Tsat Tsurf Tsat-Tsurf ∆Tm q U

Rate (W) (℃) (℃) (℃) (℃) (℃) (℃) (W) ᶲ (W/m2.K)
(LPM) (W/m2)
0.4 502 30.9 31.8 99.8 29.2 70.6 31.35 7,643.636 1,893,289 60,396.14
0.6 541 27.4 33.5 99.9 29 70.9 30.35 11,683.126 2,893,850 95,355.86
0.8 522 31.2 33.9 100 29.1 70.9 32.53 15,387.736 3,811,462 117,162.8
1 515 31 34.2 100.6 29.8 70.8 32.57 19,269.55333 4,772,968 146,527.8
1.2 540 30.6 34.4 99.8 29.7 70.1 32.46 23,173.696 5,740,004 176,817.1

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 Figure 4.1 Heat Flux against the Temperature Difference for Filmwise
Condensation

Table 4.1 and 4.2 shows the collected data from the experiment. Different flow
rate caused different temperature collected on each type of the condenser. The data
further implement in a chart which the temperature difference become the manipulated
variables and the heat flux and the heat transfer coefficient as the responding variables.

In this experiment, the influence of temperature differences on the heat flux and
the surface heat transfer coefficient for both film wise and dropwise condensation is being
studied. Generally, condensation is a process of physical state of matter from the gas
phase into a liquid phase which is the reverse of the vaporisation process. Condensation
occurs when the steam meets a medium with a lower surface temperature than saturated
temperature. Figure 4.1 shows the heat flux against the temperature difference for
filmwise condensation. Based on Figure 4.1, the heat flux increases as the temperature
difference increases. When the temperature exceeds the set temperature, the heating
element stopped working as the vapor condensed. However, the data for 0.8 LPM of
cooling water is inconsistent with other data at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 LPM where the
temperature differences suddenly decrease but the heat flux still increases. This is due to
an error occurs when executing the experiment. The temperature suddenly decreases as
the heat is taken off to force condensation. The heat flux increases as the flow rate

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increases and greater heat flux is associated with greater temperature difference. This is
due to the increasing of velocity as the flowrate increase where it might influence the
temperature of the surface.

At temperature difference of 50.1℃ to 69.9℃, the graph showed a gradual

increment due to the more significant difference between both values. Next, at the
temperature of 69.9℃ to 70.4℃, the figure showed a sharp increase as the difference
between the two value is smaller. However, the graph showed a negative correlation when
it reached temperature difference of 59.95℃, where it is due to heat loss to the
surrounding. At the temperature difference of 59.95℃ to 63.05℃, the graph showed that
the temperature difference increases gradually. Thus, the heat flux is not proportional to
the vapour-surface temperature difference.

Figure 4.2 Heat Flux against the Temperature Difference for dropwise
Condensation

Besides, the trend of heat flux against the temperature difference is shown in
Figure 4.2. The dropwise condensation also showed that as the temperature difference
greatly influenced heat flux. However, at the temperature difference of 70.8℃ to 70.1℃,
the temperature starts to decrease but the heat flux still growing. The temperature
decreased about 0.7℃ where this phenomenon is due to the machine’s inability to operate

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at the optimum level which gave poor heater performance and unavoidable heat losses
during the experiment.

Figure 4.3 Heat Flux against the Temperature Difference for Filmwise and Dropwise
Condensation

Figure 4.4 Heat Transfer Coefficient against the Temperature Difference for Filmwise
and Dropwise Condensation

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 The comparison of heat flux and heat transfer coefficient against temperature
difference for both filmwise and dropwise condensation is shown in Figure 4.3 and 4.4.
Based on the results, the value of the heat flux and heat transfer coefficient of filmwise
condensation is smaller compared to the value of the heat flux and heat transfer
coefficient of dropwise condensation. This is coherent to the theory where the dropwise
condensation should give a higher value of heat flux and heat transfer coefficient as a film
of condensate is formed in filmwise condensation and it covers the surface of the
condenser. The film formed is a poor conductor of heat. This gives a lower heat transfer
from the vapour to the surface as the thermal resistance created by the film is higher
compared to the dropwise condensation. In dropwise condensation, there is no film
covering all the surface only droplets on the surface. The area is exposed to vapour for
condensation to occur and produce more massive heat transfer compares to filmwise
where a film is created and acts as thermal resistance to reduce the heat transfer.
Therefore, dropwise condensation has a higher heat transfer coefficient than filmwise
condensation.

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

At the end of the condensation laboratory experiment, the graph behaviour of the
heat flux and the rate of heat transfer coefficient against the temperature differences are
evaluated. The heat flux and heat transfer coefficient for both filmwise condensation and
dropwise condensation are affected by the different temperature (Tsat- Tsurf). An increase
in temperature difference will increase the heat transfer coefficient and heat flux. Then,
it can be concluded that dropwise condensation is more effective in term of heat transfer
compared to filmwise condensation. Lastly, ensure the heater to work well as not to
disturb the heat transfer process and ensure the flow rate is consistent so that the
machine or the system can operate at a good pace.

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References

Cengel, A. Y. & Ghajar, J. A. (2015). Heat and Mass Transfer. New York, NY: McGraw
Hill Education.

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2019). Condensation – Phase Change. Retrieved on March

10, 2019 from https://www.britannica.com/science/condensation-phase-change

Forbes Marshall. (2019). Dropwise and Filmwise Condensation. Retrieved on March 10,
2019 from
https://www.forbesmarshall.com/fm_micro/news_room.aspx?Id=boilers&nid=163

Karamallah A. A., Yousif A. H., and Mohammed B. M. (2014). Experimental Analysis of

Heat Transfer with Dropwise and Filmwise Condensation on Inclined Double
Tubes Heat Exchanger. Eng. & Tech. Journal. Vol. 32, Part (A). No. 7.

Pandey S. (2012). Dropwise and filmwise condensation. International Journal of Scientific

& Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 4, ISSN 2229-5518.

Softschools. (2019). Condensation. Retrieved on March 08, 2019 from

http://www.softschools.com/examples/science/condensation_examples/173/

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