Experimental study of dropwise condensation on plasma-ion implanted stainless steel tubes (Q865812)

Results of experimental studies of the heat transfer process for dropwise condensation of saturated steam on plasma-ion-implanted horizontal stainless steel tubes are presented in the paper. An experimental condenser has been constructed to measure the condensation heat transfer coefficient on different tubes. Experiments were carried out on an unimplanted tube and on tubes implanted with different nitrogen ion doses. Different conditions were investigated by varying the cooling water rate and steam pressure. Stable dropwise condensation was obtained at low cooling water rates. The measured heat transfer coefficient for the dropwise condensation was found to be larger by a factor about 3 compared with the filmwise condensation values calculated from corrected Nusselt's film theory.