Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2020

Drop Dynamics and Dropwise Condensation on Textured Surfaces

  • Fundamentals of equilibrium drop shapes, drop spreading, and coalescence are discussed
  • A dropwise condensation model capable of predicting the instantaneous drop size distribution over a textured substrate and its evolution in time is developed
  • Drop level details are visible in the outcome of the condensation model
  • Local as well as spatio-temporally averaged heat transfer rates and wall shear stress for the condensation cycle are discussed with surface subcooling, orientation, and surface texture as parameters
  • Condensation patterns in water are compared with those formed during condensation of bismuth vapor
  • A state-of-the-art on surface preparation techniques is provided. Experimental methods for measurement of heat transfer coefficient, not only on the substrate level but also on the level of individual condensing droplets are discussed

Part of the book series: Mechanical Engineering Series (MES)

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiv
  2. Statics, Spreading, Coalescence

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Droplet Statics

      • Gaurav Bhutani, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 3-39
    3. Spreading of Sessile and Pendant Drops on Partially Wetting Surfaces

      • Aashutosh Mistry, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 41-80
    4. Coalescence Dynamics of Drops over a Hydrophobic Surface

      • Praveen Somwanshi, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 81-129
    5. Introduction to Evaporative Heat Transfer

      • Manish Bhendura, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 131-146
  3. Modeling Dropwise Condensation

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 147-147
    2. Introduction to Condensation

      • Sameer Khandekar, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 149-164
    3. Modeling Dropwise Condensation: From Atomic Scale to Drop Instability

      • Sumeet Kumar, Smita Agrawal, Basant Singh Sikarwar, N. K. Battoo, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 165-224
    4. Finite Time Coalescence in Dropwise Condensation

      • Praveen Somwanshi, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 225-250
    5. Simulation in a Parallel Environment

      • Praveen Somwanshi, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 251-257
    6. Simulation: Dropwise Condensation of Water

      • Basant Singh Sikarwar, Praveen Somwanshi, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 259-281
    7. Dropwise Condensation of Bismuth on Horizontal and Vertical Surfaces

      • Praveen Somwanshi, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 283-306
  4. Dropwise Condensation Experiments

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 307-307
    2. Dropwise Condensation: Experiments

      • Basant Singh Sikarwar, K. Muralidhar, Sameer Khandekar
      Pages 309-329
    3. Surface Preparation: Some Techniques

      • Mahesh Kumar Yadav, Praveen Somwanshi, Sameer Khandekar, Sanghamitro Chatterjee, Mohit Gonga, K. Muralidhar et al.
      Pages 331-350
    4. Measurement of Condensation Heat Transfer

      • Mahesh K. Yadav, Maneesh Punetha, Abhinav Bhanawat, Sameer Khandekar, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 351-377
    5. Measurement of Heat Transfer Rates under a Liquid Drop During Dropwise Condensation

      • Gagan Bansal, S. Khandekar, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 379-394
    6. Evaporation Dynamics of a Sessile Droplet on a Hydrophobic Surface

      • Sachin K. Singh, Mohit Gogna, Sameer Khandekar, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 395-410
    7. Closing Remarks and Prospects

      • Sameer Khandekar, K. Muralidhar
      Pages 411-416

About this book

This book is an expanded form of the monograph, Dropwise Condensation on Inclined Textured Surfaces, Springer, 2013, published earlier by the authors, wherein a mathematical model for dropwise condensation of pure vapor over inclined textured surfaces was presented, followed by simulations and comparison with experiments. The model factored in several details of the overall quasi-cyclic process but approximated those at the scale of individual drops. In the last five years, drop level dynamics over hydrophobic surfaces have been extensively studied. These results can now be incorporated in the dropwise condensation model.



Dropwise condensation is an efficient route to heat transfer and is often encountered in major power generation applications. Drops are also formed during condensation in distillation devices that work with diverse fluids ranging from water to liquid metals. Design of such equipment requires careful understanding of the condensation cycle, starting from the birth of nuclei, followed by molecular clusters, direct growth of droplets, their coalescence, all the way to instability and fall-off of condensed drops. The model described here considers these individual steps of the condensation cycle. Additional discussions include drop shape determination under static conditions, a fundamental study of drop spreading in sessile and pendant configurations, and the details of the drop coalescence phenomena. These are subsequently incorporated in the condensation model and their consequences are examined. As the mathematical model is spread over multiple scales of length and time, a parallelization approach to simulation is presented. Special topics include three-phase contact line modeling, surface preparation techniques, fundamentals of evaporation and evaporation rates of a single liquid drop, and measurement of heat transfer coefficient during large-scale condensation of water vapor. We hope that this significantly expanded text meets the expectations of design engineers, analysts, and researchers working in areas related to phase-change phenomena and heat transfer.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India

    Sameer Khandekar, K. Muralidhar

About the authors

Sameer Khandekar is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,  Kanpur (UP) India. K. Muralidhar is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at theIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur (UP) India.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access