EFFECTS OF SURFACE TENSION ON LAMINAR FILMWISE CONDENSATION ON A HORIZONTAL PLATE IN A POROUS MEDIUM WITH SUCTION AT THE WALL

The problem of two-dimensional, steady-state film condensation on an isothermal finite-size horizontal plate embedded in a porous medium is studied for the case in which the plate faces upward into a region of dry saturated vapor. Due to surface tension effects, a two-phase zone is formed between the liquid film on the horizontal plate and the vapor zone. The effects of surface tension are shown to reduce the thickness of the liquid film and hence to increase the heat transfer performance of the horizontal plate. Furthermore, the results show that the dimensionless heat transfer coefficient depends on the Darcy number Da, the Jacob number Ja, the effective Rayleigh number Ra_e, the effective Prandtl number Pr_e, the wall suction parameter Sw, and the surface tension parameter Bo_c. When the surface tension effects are neglected and there is no suction at the wall, a closed-form correlation for the Nusselt number can be established.