Laminar film condensation of pseudo-plastic non-Newtonian fluid with variable thermal conductivity on an isothermal vertical plate

• We examine the laminar film condensation of non-Newtonian fluids on an isothermal vertical plate.
• The thermal conductivity is power-law-dependent on the velocity gradient.
• The dual solutions are obtained numerically by Runge–Kutta method coupled with shooting method.

In this paper, we examine the laminar film condensation of pseudo-plastic non-Newtonian fluids with variable thermal conductivity on an isothermal vertical plate. The thermal conductivity is assumed to be power-law-dependent on the velocity gradient. The dual similar solutions, which are influenced by the parameters of the power law number n   and the thickness ηδηδ of the condensation film, are obtained numerically by Runge–Kutta method coupled with shooting method. More attention is paid to discuss the first branch of the solutions with physical meaning. Especially the effects of above both parameters on the velocity and temperature distribution, condensation mass flow rate and the local Nusselt number are analyzed in detail.