Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120

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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

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Effect of applied EHD on in-tube condensation of R-134a within

an assembled experimental rig including a laboratory heat exchanger
H. Omidvarborna, M. Dasht-e-Bayz, A. Mehrabani-Zeinabad ⇑, M. Nasr Esfahany
Department of Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Effects of applied EHD (Electrohydrodynamic) on in-tube condensation of R-134a refrigerant in a double
Received 15 November 2013 pipe heat exchanger are experimentally investigated to present applicability of the EHD technique in ver-
Received in revised form 28 March 2014 tical position. The refrigerant’s vapor was flowed inside of the inner tube and cooling water was counter
Accepted 7 June 2014
currently flowed in annulus section. Tests were performed at different mass flow rates 35–65 kg/m2 s of
Available online 22 June 2014
refrigerant and different electrical field strengths (0–8 kV), under their identified breakdown strengths
for two various electrode diameter sizes (4 and 6 mm), while the average saturation temperature was
Keywords:
43 and 33 °C respectively. Experimental results demonstrate a remarkable potential in utilizing EHD to
In-tube condensation
Electrohydrodynamic
enhance condensation heat transfer. It is concluded that the enhancement is driven by the effective
Heat transfer enhancement removal of the condensate through EHD induced liquid extraction and dispersion phenomena. For the
Two-phase flow presence of the electrodes, the experimental results indicate that the maximum heat transfer ER
(Enhancement ratio) is around 14% and 31% respectively for electrodes with diameter of 4 mm
(10.7 mm electrode gap) and 6 mm (9.7 mm electrode gap), while power expenditure was negligible.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction can be configured for a high degree of local control. Some of the
main advantages of EHD are enumerated in following list [3,4].
The promotion of energy conservation and environment protec-
tion requires preparing the best utilization of energy sources.  Reduction on the size of heat transfer equipment.
Enhancing of heat transfer coefficient has been an interesting area  Rapid control of heat transfer coefficients by monitoring the
for research in recent years. There are various techniques for heat electrical field strength.
transfer enhancement that can be categorized in two groups of  Suitable for application to special environments, such as
active and passive. The active techniques require external forces, zero gravity environments.
e.g. electric field, acoustic or surface vibration and etc. while the  Fluids with higher permittivity are more acceptable work-
passive techniques require fluid additives or special surface ing fluids (at the present level of EHD technology).
geometries.  Simplified implementation, as it needs only a small trans-
Active control of heat transfer and fluid flow are very important former and electrode.
in many engineering applications, such as refrigeration, air condi-
tioning, energy, and heat recovery systems [1,2]. Electrohydrody- The first large-scale commercial and industrial applications of
namic (EHD) techniques have been introduced as one of the EHD as a heat transfer enhancement technique could be its imple-
types of active heat transfer enhancement techniques which refer mentation in refrigeration systems for both processes of condensa-
to the use of an electric field in a dielectric fluid medium. More tion and evaporation, where the energy required for the phase
recently, in systems with dielectric medium, based on media’s changes are significant.
characteristics, electrical field has been used to enhance heat Specific flow regimes are observed for two-phase flow systems
transfer. EHD characterized by a high voltage and low current. based on the flow characteristics (e.g. volume fraction, velocity of
EHD is non-mechanical and a relatively robust technique that each phases, flow orientation). Numerous flow patterns have been
developed to predict the transition between the various two-phase
flow patterns. For a condensation process, the heat transfer mech-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 311 3915609; fax: +98 311 3912677. anisms depend on whether the flow is gravity driven (i.e. stratified,
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Mehrabani-Zeinabad). stratified wavy and slug flows) or shear driven (i.e. annular flows),

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2014.06.007
0894-1777/Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120 113

Nomenclature

Cp average specific heat (J/kg K) x quality (kg/kg)

D diameter (m)
E electric field strength (V/m) Greeks
G mass flux (kg/m2 s) e electric permittivity (F/m)
h condensation heat transfer coefficient (CHTC) (W/m2 K) p Pi number (–)
k thermal conductivity (W/m K) q mass density (kg/m3)
L length (m)
m_ mass flow rate (kg/s) Subscript
Nu Nusselt number (–) avg average
Q heat transfer rate (W) h hydraulic
q charge density (C/m3)
o base state
S heat transfer surface (m2) sat saturate
T temperature (K) w wall

because the heat transfer mechanism is dependent on the phase in  Thinning of the condensate film by removing of condensate
contact with the heat transfer surface [5]. from the condensation surface using EHD extraction phenom-
EHD in two-phase flows are more complex than in single-phase ena [12,13].
flows because in addition to the complexities associated with two-  Changing the mode of condensation from film condensation
phase flows, the force components (Eq. (1)) in the EHD equation into pseudo-drop-wise condensation by further thinning of
and the interactions between the free charge and the liquid-vapor the condensate film [12–14].
interface must be considered. Applications of electric field can con-  Condensate dispersion using electrostatic atomization [12].
tribute additional body forces to liquid–vapor phase flow systems  Disturbing and collapsing the accumulation of non-condensable
[6,7]. These forces are dominantly due to electrical field distribu- gases at the liquid–vapor interface. Thus, the overall mass
tion and differences in specific dielectric constant of the phases transfer resistance is reduced to the vapor phase one and finally
which disturb the boundary layer near the surface and/or cause improves CHTC [4,15].
two-phase redistributions. The dielectric constants are approxi-  Inducing perturbations and waviness into the condensate film
mately 1 for gases and vapors, and within the range of 5–10 for results in increasing of heat transfer [16–18].
the most dielectric liquids e.g. R-134a [8,9]. The classical expres-
sion of electric body force is presented by [10]: The practical amount of applied voltage on a system of EHD is
relatively high and it is in the order of several kV. But the amount
 
1 1 of electrical current is usually less (in the order of few mA). Thus,
fe ¼ qE  E2 re þ r eaE2 ð1Þ very low amount of energy consumption in comparison with trans-
2 2
ferred energy in conventional thermal systems is observed [19,20].
where qE, is Coulomb force, the force per unit volume of a medium There have been several studies on EHD heat transfer enhance-
containing the electric free charge, and ment and detailed reviews are given by some researchers. In gen-
q @ e  eral, EHD is found to enhance heat transfer, and the augmentation
a¼ ð2Þ level decreases with an increase of the mass flux and the vapor
e @q T quality [19,21–29]. In early studies, Velkoff and Miller enhanced
a is the electrostriction parameter. The second term, dielectric the condensation heat transfer of Freon-113 in a vertical copper
force, is the exerted force on a non-homogeneous dielectric fluid tube by using EHD [30]. Bologa and Didkovesky conducted exper-
by an electric field. The dielectrophoretic component represents iments to study effects of various parameters of applied EHD such
the force due to the spatial change of the permittivity of the as strength, frequency, and uniformity of applied electric field on
dielectric medium as a result of temperature gradients and/or the film condensation of normal hexane, R-113, and diethyl ether
phase differences. The last term, electrostrictive force, is the gradi- in a vertical flat plate and tube [23]. As shown in Table 1, many
ent of a scalar and treated as a modification to the fluid pressure. authors confirmed that EHD improves the heat transfer rate but,
The electrostrictive force is caused by both the inhomogeneity in depending on the type of systems, some parameters may influence
the electric field strength and the variation in the dielectric con- performance of EHD systems, such as presence of non-condensable
stant of the medium with temperature and density. In two phase gases. The heat transfer resistance on the condensing side
flows such as condensation process, the dielectrophoretic and increases by presence of air inside of the system. This is due to
electrostrictive forces are dominant and significant at the vapor– accumulation of the non-condensable gas at condensing area
liquid interface due to the large difference in permittivity between which decreases the condensation rate of the refrigerant [4,31].
the vapor and liquid phase [3,4,8]. This force can cause interfacial There is an agreement that EHD presents a promising active
instabilities and force the liquid with higher permittivity to move technique for heat transfer control. However, it can be noted that
to regions of higher electric field. This phenomenon is usually most of the experimental investigations found in the literature
referred to as liquid extraction and can result in phase redistribu- described above focused on external condensation in a chamber
tion in two-phase flows [11]. Utilization of electrical field for or vessel and there is a lack of practical experiments on vertical
enhancing condensation and vaporization heat transfer has signif- in-tube condensation of R-134a [30,22,32]. This is important to
icantly progressed in recent years. Condensation benefits of EHD, identify the range of heat transfer enhancement that can be
as an enhancement technique, are summarized as follows: achieved by varying the electrode sizes, mass flow rates, tempera-
114 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120

Table 1
ERs for different systems which R-134 implemented as working fluid .

ERmax Note References

6.5  In-tube condensation heat transfer Singh et al. (1997) [19]
 Horizontally mounted tube-in-tube heat exchanger
 Two types of tubes (smooth and microfin copper) with 12.7 mm (0.5in.) OD
 EHD power consumption was less than 0.08% of the condenser capacity
7.2  External condensation over a plain tube Cheung et al. (1999) [32]
 Vertical and horizontal smooth tube
 It is concluded that the enhancement is driven by the effective removal of the condensate through EHD-induced
liquid extraction and dispersion phenomena
3  External condensation on single commercial enhanced tubes Da Silva et al. (2000) [20]
 EHD voltage in the range 0–25 kV
 EHD power consumption lower than 1% of the test section heat transfer rate
4 (V) and  External condensation of R-134a in a seven-tube bundle heat exchanger Wu et al. (2003) [33]
0.38 (H)
 Horizontal and vertical bundle configurations were tested
 Different heat flux levels, ranging from 10 to 30 kW/m2, 30 °C saturation temperature and 0–20 kV electric field
voltages were tested
3.2  EHD augmentation of heat transfer for in-tube condensation of flowing refrigerant R-134a Sadek et al. (2006) [29]
 Performed in a horizontal, single-pass, counter-current heat exchanger
 Effects of varying the mass flux, inlet quality and the level of applied voltage (0–8 kV) were examined
 The pressure drop was increased by a factor 1.5 at the same conditions of the maximum heat transfer
enhancement (3.2 times for applied voltage of 8 kV)
1.15  Condensing inside a horizontal micro-fin tube Laohalertdecha and Wongwises
(2006–2007) [34–36]
 Counter flow tube-in-tube heat exchanger with micro-fin horizontal copper tubing
 Cylindrical stainless steel electrode
 Application of 2.5 kV only slightly increases the pressure drop
 Heat flux of 10 kW/m2, mass flux of 200 kg/m2 s and saturation temperature of 40 °C
0.3  Smooth horizontal copper tubing with 9.52 mm OD.
 Maximum increase in pressure drop is about 25%
 Average saturated temperatures ranging between 40 and 60 °C, mass flux ranging between 200 and 600 kg/m2 s,
heat flux ranging between 10 and 20 kW/m2 and applied voltage at 2.5 kV
1.1  Mass flux of 400 kg/m2 s, saturated temperature of 40 °C, heat flux of 20 kW/m2 and applied voltage of 2.5 kV
1.8  Applying EHD and non-condensable (NC) gas contents on inter-tubular condensation of refrigerant R-134a flow Omidvarborna et al. (2009) [4]
 Horizontal double pipe heat exchanger is used in this study
 CHTC is greatly reduced in presence of both EHD and higher concentration of NC gas
 The effect of electrical field is more considerable at lower concentration of NC gas, due to thickness of heat
transfer boundary layer
2.5  Direct Current (DC) and Alternating Current (AC) EHD induced condensation heat transfer modulation are used Cotton (2009) [25]
for a single tube condenser
 Single-pass, counter–current heat exchanger with a concentric rod electrode
 R134a inlet qualities of 50–90%, heat flux of 11 kW/m2, mass fluxes from 75 to 400 kg/m2 s and applied voltages
from 0 kV to 8 kV DC and 0 kV to 10 kV RMS AC (30 kV peak to peak) for low frequency (63 Hz) sinusoidal
waveforms
 Pressure drop and heat transfer can be independently changed by using AC which is not possible in traditional
passive heat exchangers

ERmax: Maximum ER.

V: Vertical position.
H: Horizontal position.

ture difference and applied voltages in condensation of R-134a. As modynamic properties are similar to R-12). R134a is one of the
a consequence, the objective of this study is to study the effect of most common refrigerants used in industrial refrigeration systems,
EHD enhancement on in-tube CHTC of alternative refrigerant R- and it is also well known because of the large difference in permit-
134a in smooth tube with two different electrode sizes in vertical tivity between the liquid and vapor phases [9].
position. The experimental setup used for this study is the same used
earlier by Omidvarborna et al. [4] and major components of the
test facility as shown in Fig. 1, are as follows: main condenser, final
2. Apparatus and experimental procedures condensers, evaporator, compressor, hot water loop, cooling water
supply, sight glass, and position of electrode. The main condenser
Experimental apparatus is mainly composed of three sections, a comprising of a double pipe heat exchanger with a concentric
thermal section consisting of condensation heat transfer loop, an internal electrode and its joint fixtures, and locations of attached
electrical section comprising of a high voltage power supply, and thermocouples are schematically drawn in Fig. 2. These thermo-
an instrumental section including various measuring and monitor- couples were adjusted to estimate an average of inner tube wall
ing elements. The heat exchanger is designed to measure the CHTC temperatures. The main role of the condenser after the test con-
of R-134a vapor in a test tube at two various orientations of hori- denser is to complete condensation of the vapor and turn it to sat-
zontal and vertical. urate liquid by means of cooling water.
1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane or R-134a (CH2FCF3) is a type of In the refrigeration loop, saturated liquid of R-134a after pass-
haloalkane refrigerant with less ozone depletion potential (its ther- ing through a rotameter for measurement of its flow rate was
 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120 115

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the assembled experimental system.

Fig. 2. Detailed illustration of the assembled test section (horizontal view).

vaporized by passing through the double pipe evaporator. The and the width of the annular gap is maintained along the entire
liquid refrigerant absorbs thermal energy from a circulated hot length of the test section by a non-conducting spacer at the end.
water passing through annulus section of the evaporator (number
7 in Fig. 1). The required energy for this evaporation process was 3. Data reduction
provided by a package designed for this study. The vaporized
refrigerant was passed through a compressor in order to increase In a closed and isolated system, the heat removed from the test
its pressure and consequently its temperature. section tube is equal to the heat input from the heater when the
Test condenser is a vertical double pipe countercurrent flow boundary of the system is considered adiabatic. Also, excluding
heat exchanger. More details of the test section condenser are the thermal resistance of the copper tube, which was negligible,
presented in Table 2. Wall temperatures of the test section tube the refrigerant side average CHTC in the tube can be approximated
were measured by six thermocouples along its axial direction. by this formula:
These measurements were used to estimate average CHTC on
Q
the refrigerant side of the condenser. A specially calibrated rota- h¼ ð3Þ
meter for R-134a was used to measure the refrigerant flow rate. SðT sat  T wavg Þ
In all experiments a cylindrical electrode was placed inside of where
internal tube. The electrode is concentric with the inner tube
_ p ðT o  T i Þ
Q ¼ mC ð4Þ
116 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120

Table 2
Test section characteristics used to measure heat transfer ratio.

Inner tube
Material Copper
Effective length (m) 1
Inner diameter (mm) 25.4
Thickness (mm) 3
Outer tube
Material Teflon
Effective length (m) 1
Inner diameter (mm) 31.4
Thickness (mm) 20
Electrode
Material Brass
Length (m) 1
Diameter (mm) 4 and 6
Position Central

The saturated temperature was calculated from saturation pres-

sure (from R-134a saturation table provided by American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers or
ASHRAE) and the arithmetic average of the internal tube wall tem-
perature, was obtained according to this formula:

1X 6
T wavg ¼ Tw ð5Þ
6 i¼1 i

inner surface area of the tube is:

Fig. 3. Effect of applied electric fields and different mass fluxes on CHTC (a) and ER
S ¼ pDL ð6Þ
(b); electrode diameter: 4 mm.
The inlet and outlet vapor quality of the test section were calcu-
lated based on the method presented in earlier studies [35,37].
Heat transfer enhancement ratio (ER), is defined for the ratio
between average CHTC of the thermal system under EHD effect
(h), and h0 which is the average CHTC under the same conditions
without EHD (base case).
ER ¼ h=h0 ð7Þ
More information regarding the working fluid and condensation
heat transfer experiments are summarized in Table 3. Temperature
measurements (Ts  Tw) contributed the most to CHTC and became
more significant when the temperature difference between work-
ing fluid and wall temperature decreased. Uncertainty of the
experimental results can be estimated by careful specifications
and analysis of involved measurements. In addition, to provide
confidence in the efficacy of the measurement, analysis techniques
and results, all the pipelines and instruments were totally insu-
lated. The required materials such as filling procedure with
R-134a and design parameters/methods (energy balance equa-
tions, assumptions, assumed safety factors and etc.) were provided
elsewhere [37]. Utilizing the propagation of errors principle, the
experimental uncertainty of measuring the averaged CHTC was
estimated to less than or equal to ±10% [37]. More information
regarding the calculation and measurements are provided
elsewhere [4,32,37,38].

Table 3
Test conditions for the laboratory heat exchanger in vertical position.

Parameters Ranges
Working fluid R-134a
Saturation pressure 552 kPa
Avg. dielectric constant 9.867 at 198.15 K
Electrode gap 9.7 and 10.7 mm
High voltage 0–8 kV Fig. 4. Effect of applied electric fields and different mass fluxes on CHTC (a) and ER
(b); electrode diameter: 6 mm.
 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120 117

Fig. 5. Effect of different electrode diameters and different mass fluxes on CHTC (a) and ER (b).

4. Results and discussion The dominant electric body force density acting on the conden-
sate is due to the permittivity gradient that is represented by the
In the present study, the effects of mass flux, electrode size, second term of Eq. (1). This force is the source of attracting conden-
temperature difference and applied electric field, on the average sate, which has a higher permittivity than the surrounding vapor
CHTC in a double pipe vertical heat exchanger are experimentally phase.
investigated. Figs. 3 and 4 show the variation of the average measured CHTC
with different electric fields in the smooth tube. The different mass
4.1. Effect of EHD on CHTC and ER in vertical position fluxes range from 40 to 65 kg/m2 s for 4 mm electrode (Fig. 3) and
35–50 kg/m2 s for 6 mm electrode (Fig. 4), while the average satu-
The heat transfer enhancement is due to variation and reduc- ration temperature were 43 and 33 °C respectively. During the con-
tion of the condensate film from heat transfer surface. The EHD densation, the liquid film thickness gradually increases, and the
enhancement of heat transfer in condensation is highly dependent thermal resistance increases which results in lower CHTC. The
on the flow pattern prior to application of EHD. The EHD enhance- result is that the CHTC increases with increasing both EHD and
ment of heat transfer in tube geometries is found to be greatest mass flux. Comparison of the CHTC obtained by using EHD than
when the flow pattern is stratified/stratified wavy and gravity that obtained without EHD can be seen in Figs. 3a and 4a. Due to
has a dominant role in establishing this flow pattern [39]. The con- electrical discharge between the concentric electrode and inner
densate is thicker in a stratified flow regime because of the low tube of the heat exchanger, the maximum amounts of applied volt-
vapor velocity and there is greater ability for the EHD body forces ages were limited to 4 and 8 kV for two electrodes with diameters
to thin the condensate film and increase the convection in the of 4 and 6 mm respectively. For 4 mm electrode diameter and mea-
layer. sured mass flux of 65 kg/m2 s, the maximum CHTC was 1381 W/
The main mechanisms involved in heat transfer enhancement m2 K while for 6 mm electrode diameter mass flux of 50 kg/m2 s,
by using EHD is condensate removal at the heat transfer surface the maximum CHTC was 1719 W/m2 K. This is because higher axial
by liquid extraction, and dispersion of this liquid by the electric momentum resulted from higher vapor velocity dominates the
body forces. Higher applied voltages result in a greater electric EHD force and the liquid extraction phenomena. Below this applied
body force to extract condensate from the heat transfer surface, voltage the EHD effect on further improvement of the heat transfer
thereby increasing heat transfer. The liquid phase of refrigerant coefficient is somehow minimal. At this point, flow visualization
having high dielectric permittivity is therefore pulled away from observations also confirmed that the liquid extraction began to
the inside of the tube surface toward the electrode surface. Based extract the condensate from the tube surface [32]. Consequently,
on the obtained results, the stronger electrical field exhibits higher the reduction of film condensate thickness contributes greatly to
performance of the heat transfer system. the heat transfer enhancement in tube condensation.
118 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120

Fig. 6. Variation of CHTC with inlet vapor quality at different mass flow rates of R-134a.

Figs. 3b and 4b depict the ER (calculated from Eq. (7)) obtained average saturation temperature of 43 °C (4 mm) and 33 °C
in the vertical smooth tube condensation experiments for the (6 mm) for the presence of two different electrodes. Two 1 m diam-
range of parameters tested. Further analysis of the data in eter brass rod electrodes were used to apply the electric field
Figs. 3b and 4b also suggest that for the particular electrode gaps across the annular gap formed by the electrode and the surface
tested the CHTC increases sharply after an applied voltage of 4 of the inner tube. EHD voltage of 2 and 4 kV are selected for com-
and 8 kV for 4 and 6 mm electrodes respectively. The results show parison between two electrodes.
that ERs are increased by increasing EHD while decreased by The highest CHTC is 1409.2 W/m2 K for 4 mm electrode and
increasing mass flux in either 4 or 6 mm electrode. Up to 31% 1669.9 W/m2 K for 6 mm electrode with 4 kV EHD at mass flux of
increase in heat transfer coefficient which is equivalent to a heat 65 and 50 kg/m2 s respectively. It can be clearly seen that the CHTC
transfer coefficient of 1147.9 W/m2 K and an enhancement factor increases with increasing inlet quality. The CHTC is maximum at
of 1.31 achieved at an applied voltage of 8 kV. the lowest mass flux (G4mm = 40 kg/m2 s and G6mm = 35 kg/m2 s)
For the mass fluxes of 40 and 50 kg/m2 s, effects of electrode and decreases with an increase of the mass flux. In the case of a lar-
diameters on CHTC and ER are plotted over the same range 0– ger electrode, because of approaching stronger electric field to the
4 kV in Fig. 5. 6 mm electrode produced higher electric field vapor liquid interface, the interface becomes more unstable and
strength than 4 mm electrode due to larger surface area and lower this causes the average CHTC to be higher than the smaller
annular gap compared to 4 mm electrode. As shown in Fig. 5, at electrode.
maximum EHD (4 kV), 6 mm electrode increased CHTC to The average CHTC obtained with EHD is higher than without
1646 W/m2 K while 4 mm electrode had 1172.3 W/m2 K. Due to EHD across the range of inlet quality. This is due to the instabilities
the limited volume of the experimental test rig and lower mass at the liquid vapor interface resulted from the molecules of refrig-
flux, when varying the vapor quality it was not always possible erant disturbed by EHD force and the phenomena called liquid
to reach exactly the same operating pressure for all the data points. extraction. In the lack of EHD, the observed trend suggests that
Thus, average saturation temperatures obtained were 43 and 33 °C the vapor shear forces in these situations are almost negligible
for 2 and 4 kV respectively. Results indicate that the electrode and the flow pattern is stratified [40].
diameter of 6 mm is the optimal electrode tested.
4.3. Effects of EHD and mas flux on temperature gradient
4.2. Effect of electrode diameter and inlet quality on CHTC in vertical
position One of the main parameters that affect CHTC is condensation
driving force, which is temperature difference between saturated
Experimental CHTCs for the pure R-134a are plotted over inlet vapor (Tsat) and the cold wall temperatures. The temperature dif-
vapor quality as a function of mass velocity in Fig. 6. This figure ferences at different positions of the condensing system with both
shows the comparison of the average measured CHTC obtained 4 and 6 mm diameter electrodes for different values of applied
from the smooth tube at different mass flux of 35–65 kg/m2 s at voltage and mass flux are depicted in Fig. 7a and b. In absence of
 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120 119

(a) 4 mm electrode diameter

(b) 6 mm electrode diameter

Fig. 7. Effect of DT (Tsat  TW) on local CHTC in presence of EHD and different mass fluxes.

electric field, the temperature difference is increased along con-  The ER is almost always higher than 1. Maximum magni-
densation tube due to gradual increase of the condensed film tude of ER in vertical structure is equaled to around 14%
thickness. This issue increases the amount of thermal resistance and 31% for 4 and 6 mm electrode diameter respectively.
all the way through the condensing process in the tube which as  Transferred heat has enhanced by increasing of coolant
a result CHTC is decreased. Furthermore, decreasing mass flux mass flow rate for both electrodes, but 6 mm electrode
leads to higher differences in local temperatures. This phenomenon had higher heat transfer rate at the same mass flux.
causes a lower heat transfer coefficient and consequently increases  The heat transfer enhancement mechanism involves an
temperature difference as shown for both electrodes. Application effective removal process of liquid condensate from the tube
of electric field to condensation system reduces the condensate surface and reducing the film thickness by liquid extraction.
film thickness which results in lower temperature difference. However, a careful design of the electrode size is required to
yield maximum enhancement at minimum power con-
5. Conclusion sumptions. In this study, the 9.7 mm gap yielded the highest
heat transfer rate. Decreasing the gap will lead to maximize
EHD method enhances heat transfer enhancement and conse- heat transfer rate and will increase pressure drop which is
quently can improve heat transfer efficiency with lower cost. This investigated by many authors in recent years. Thus the opti-
issue makes this technique very attractive for industrial applica- mum electrode size with lower amount of electrical power
tions, especially for the environment in absence of gravity. should be considered.
The mechanisms which intensify the heat transfer during EHD  The effect of inlet vapor quality on in tube condensation was
condensation are summarized as: liquid condensation removal also investigated. For the range of parameters tested, it is
from the heat transfer followed by lowering condensate film thick- found that the maximum heat transfer coefficient shows
ness, dispersion of the condensate film from the surface and mak- an increasing trend with increasing mass flux in all cases.
ing distortion and perturbation into the condensate film. Based on However, the maximum ER increases as the mass flux
results of performed experiments in this study, application of elec- decreases.
tric field has improved the performance of the system. The results  Increasing electrode diameter size, EHD, and mass flux have
of this research can be categorized into the following items: positive impact on CHTC and results in lowering tempera-
ture difference.
 Application of EHD has increased the averaged CHTC and ER  The results demonstrate a remarkable potential in utilizing
is driven by the effective removal of the condensate through EHD to enhance internal condensation heat transfer show
EHD induced liquid extraction and dispersion phenomena. which can be considered by industrial systems.
120 H. Omidvarborna et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 58 (2014) 112–120

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