Experimental and analytical study of direct contact condensation of steam in water

The object of this work is to improve our understanding and analysis capability for direct contact condensation of steam in water. Transition criteria between regimes of direct contact condensation have been proposed. A transition criterion for the onset of chugging has been developed from the transient conduction model as well as a criterion for the existence of a condensing jet from the two-layer turbulent eddy transfer model. In order to analyze the effect of non-condensable gas on the chugging boundary, a transient conduction-diffusion model for steam and steam-gas mixtures can be calculated. In particular, the amount of non-condensable gas required to suppress chugging can be quantified by use of this model. The critical gas content is found to be of the order of a few percent. In addition, a methodology is suggested for calculating the product of the interfacial area and the heat transfer coefficient for oscillatory jets. All the models and transition criteria developed are applicable for upward steam injection only with the exception of the methodology used for calculating the heat transfer of high velocity steam jets.