Numerical investigation of condensation on horizontal flat plate

In this study, condensation of humid air is examined on a horizontal flat plate numerically. When the humid air flows on the cold surfaces, it begins condensation and then solidification on the surface. The condensation on surface reduces the heat transfer rate and increases pressure drop. Geometry of horizontal flat plate is generated in GAMBIT software. The geometry is divided into small parts with suitable mesh sizes. Initial and boundary conditions are used to solve governing equations which are continuity, momentum, energy and species equations. Using FLUENT software, temperature distribution, velocity distribution, condensation mass flux rate and net heat transfer rate are observed. A comparison between numerical results and analytical results are performed for condensation mass flux on flat plate. To solve condensation on flat plate User Defined Function code is used in FLUENT which is prepared with C++ software. Then condensation is calculated numerically which is from humid air to the flat plate. For the higher inlet velocity values, heat transfer rate increases. For the higher inlet temperature, the higher heat is transferred but lower mass flux is observed. For the lower mass fraction, the lower net heat transfer is observed. Keywords: Condensation, humid air, numerical modeling, UDF.