Heat transfer due to film condensation on vertical fluted tubes

An analysis of film condensation on a vertical fluted tube has been made considering gravitational and surface tension effects over the entire fluted surface, and using surface-oriented coordinates. For the first time surface tension effects are determined, as they should, from the shape of the condensate-vapor interface rather than the shape of the flute. Two-dimensional conduction within the condensate film as well as in the fluted tube is considered. A finite-difference solution of the highly non-linear partial differential equation for the film thickness is coupled with a finite-element solution of the condition problem. The procedure has been tested on a sinusoidal flute with amplitude to pitch ratio approx. 0.2. A linear extrapolation, on a log-log basis, of our results shows good comparison with experimental data.