Resonance-induced condensate shedding for high-efficiency heat transfer

Effects of Acoustics on Induced Droplet Shedding for Dropwise Condensation

“…Recently, it has been validated that imposing low energy, low frequency acoustic vibrations enable droplet mobility [5][6][7]. Furthermore, a recent study has shown that mechanical vibrations can enable better heat transfer rate [8,9]. However, the exact mechanisms that enhance droplet shedding under the effects acoustic stimuli still need to be understood at the most fundamental level.…”

“…To facilitate droplet shedding, mechanical vibrational systems have been manufactured to prevent large droplet growth and to enable greater heat transfer rate [9,40]. It is also known that the number of droplets on a surface affect condensation.…”

“…Fevre and Rose [9,41] derived a drop size distribution equation to evaluate the effect of condensation droplets as follows,…”

“…Recently, a study by Migliaccio [9] has shown that lower frequencies and imposed vibrations enable better heat transfer during dropwise condensation. Furthermore, imposed mechanical vibrations on surfaces limit the size and number of large droplets, which leads to improvements in energy efficiency and performance.…”

Droplet ejection and sliding on a flapping film

“…Driven by increased coalescence and depinning, the flapping film rapidly shed droplets, resulting in a far lower percentage of area covered (i.e., flapping film water coverage of 6.3% compared to 13.1% on stationary film) as shown in Figure 3a. It is expected that reduced droplet departure diameters will greatly increase condensation heat transfer 28,29 and water collection rates when condensing from moist air.…”