TITLE:
Condensation Heat Transfer in Horizontal Non-Circular Microchannels
AUTHORS:
Hicham El Mghari, Mohamed Asbik, Hasna Louahlia-Gualous
KEYWORDS:
Condensation; Microchannel; Numerical Simulation; Capillary Regime; Heat Transfer
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.5 No.9,
November
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: This investigation contributes to a better understanding of
condensation heat transfer in horizontal non-circular microchannels. For this
purpose, the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy have been
numerically solved in both phases (liquid and vapor), and all the more, so the
film thickness analytical expression has been established. Numerical results
relative to variations of the meniscus curvature radius, the condensate film
thickness, the condensation length and heat transfer coefficients, are analyzed
in terms of the influencing physical and geometrical quantities. The
effect of the microchannel shapes on the average Nusselt number is highlighted
by studying condensation of steam insquare, rectangular and equilateral
triangular microchannels with the same hydraulic diameter of 250 μm.