Experimental investigations on condensation of steam in microchannels

Abstract

The uses of microchannels provide a significant increase in the efficiency of compact heat exchangers and a significant improvement of the energy performance of systems. This paper presents an experimental analysis of a transitional flow of water steam condensation in microchannels with different diameters (100, 200, 300, and 400 μm) and the experimental study by the display of different flow regimes during condensation of water steam in a mini-channel. The goal is to make a characterization based on the image processing of different flow regimes occurring during condensation. An analysis of condensation cycles for flows that identified a repetitive manner is made. A thermal performance can be achieved using a reduced diameter of the order of micrometers.