Film Condensation in Horizontal Microchannels: Effect of Channel Shape

The paper gives a progress report on a theoretical study of film condensation in microchannels. The model takes account of surface tension, vapor shear stress and gravity. The effect of channel shape is investigated for condensation of R134a in channels with cross sections: square, triangle, inverted triangle, rectangle with longer side vertical and rectangle with longer side horizontal. The case considered here is where the channel wall temperature is uniform and the vapor is saturated at inlet. For a given mass flux, the local condensate film profile around the cross section is calculated together with the mean heat-transfer coefficient at different distances along the channel. Results are presented here for one vapor mass flux, one vapor temperature and one wall temperature.