Rencai Chu

Study on enhancement of condensation heat transfer using an electric field

Enhancement of condensation heat transfer using a nonuniform electric field was experimentally investigated for horizontal smooth and low-finned tubes. In the experiments, a wire electrode parallel to the tube was placed beneath the tube. The experimental parameters were the distance and voltage between the wire electrode and the tube, and the condensation heat flux. Results of the present experiment for the low-finned tube indicate that, as the applied voltage increases, the enhancement ratio increases steeply at a certain voltage and it reaches 2.4. It was observed that the condensate flow pattern falling down from the bottom of the tube changed from a flat film to circular columns at a critical voltage.