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Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer (FHMT) Available at www.ThermalFluidsCentral.org |
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DIRECT SIMULATIONS OF BIPHILIC-SURFACE CONDENSATION: OPTIMIZED SIZE EFFECTS

Abstract
In dropwise condensation on vertical surface, droplets grow at nucleation sites, coalesce and reach the departing diameter. In biphilic surfaces, when the hydrophobic domain is small, the maximum droplet diameter is controlled by the shortest dimension where the droplets merge at the boundary. Through direct numerical simulations this heat transfer coefficient enhancement is calculated. Then the 1-D biphilic surface is optimized considering the size-dependent hydrophilic domain partial flooding (directly simulated as a liquid rivulet and using the capillary limit), the subcooling (heat flux) and condenser length effects. The predicted performance is in good agreement with the available experiments.
Full Text: PDF
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5098/hmt.14.1
ISSN: 2151-8629