Turbulent film condensation in the presence of non-condensable gases over a horizontal tube

A numerical model is presented for studying turbulent film condensation in the presence of non-condensable gases over a horizontal tube. Inertia, pressure gradient are included in this analysis, and the influence of turbulence in the proposed two-phase model is considered. The numerical results demonstrate that a very small bulk concentration of non-condensable gas reduces the heat transfer coefficient and film thickness considerably. The local heat flux and film thickness increase as tube surface temperature decreases at any bulk concentration of non-condensable gas. Moreover, inlet velocity increases as film thickness decreases and heat flux increases, a numerical result in agreement with that obtained by Nusselt. Numerical results indicate that average dimensionless heat transfer coefficients are in good agreement with theoretical and experimental data.