Heat and Mass Transfer to a Cryosurface in Free Convection

Abstract

Heat and mass transfer rates were measured experimentally and compared with analytically developed correlations for frost formation on a vertical flat plate in free convection. The plate was cooled internally to cryogenic temperatures (−310 F or liquid nitrogen temperatures), and both the laminar and turbulent flow regimes were investigated. In the laminar flow correlation, the effects of thermal diffusion and diffusion thermoeffect were included. The analytical and experimental heat transfer rates were in good agreement; however, the mass transfer results were affected by the presence of macromolecules of frost within the boundary layer.