Dropwise Condensation of Low Surface Tension Fluids on Omniphobic Surfaces
Name
Rykaczewski-2014-Dropwise condensation.pdf
Size
7.14 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1634870a165a589ae6699a5607a0e582
Author(s)
Rykaczewski, Konrad
Staymates, Matthew
Walker, Marlon L.
Sun, Xiaoda
Anand, Sushant
Srinivasan, Siddarth
Chinn, Jeff
Scott, John Henry J.
Paxson, Adam T
McKinley, Gareth H
Date Issued
March 2014
Journal
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Rykaczewski, Konrad, Adam T. Paxson, Matthew Staymates, Marlon L. Walker, Xiaoda Sun, Sushant Anand, Siddarth Srinivasan, et al. “Dropwise Condensation of Low Surface Tension Fluids on Omniphobic Surfaces.” Sci. Rep. 4 (March 5, 2014).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Compared to the significant body of work devoted to surface engineering for promoting dropwise condensation heat transfer of steam, much less attention has been dedicated to fluids with lower interfacial tension. A vast array of low-surface tension fluids such as hydrocarbons, cryogens, and fluorinated refrigerants are used in a number of industrial applications, and the development of passive means for increasing their condensation heat transfer coefficients has potential for significant efficiency enhancements. Here we investigate condensation behavior of a variety of liquids with surface tensions in the range of 12 to 28 mN/m on three types of omniphobic surfaces: smooth oleophobic, re-entrant superomniphobic, and lubricant-impregnated surfaces. We demonstrate that although smooth oleophobic and lubricant-impregnated surfaces can promote dropwise condensation of the majority of these fluids, re-entrant omniphobic surfaces became flooded and reverted to filmwise condensation. We also demonstrate that on the lubricant-impregnated surfaces, the choice of lubricant and underlying surface texture play a crucial role in stabilizing the lubricant and reducing pinning of the condensate. With properly engineered surfaces to promote dropwise condensation of low-surface tension fluids, we demonstrate a four to eight-fold improvement in the heat transfer coefficient.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04158
