Experimental Study of Condensation Heat Transfer from Downward-Facing Inclined Surfaces

Abstract

Experiments were perfomed to study the effect of surface inclination on condensation heat transfer from downward-facing horizontal surfaces. A smooth surface and two low-finned surfaces with a length of 50mm were tested for condensation of R-113. The angle of inclination from the horizontal φ ranged from 0 to 90 deg. For the smooth surface, the heat tranfer coefficient α first decreased with the increasing of φ, then took a minimum near 5 deg, and then increased monotonically with further increasing φ. For the low-finned surfaces, α increased sharply with φ in the range of 0 to 30 deg, and then increased moderately with further increasing φ. The heat tranpfer coefficient for the better performing finned surface was 2.5, 9 and 12 times the smooth surface value for φ=0, 10 and 90 deg., respectively.