Active Control of Electric Field for Enhancing Condensation Heat Transfer on Grooved Surface

Condensation heat transfer is a highly efficient heat transfer method. To further enhance the heat transfer coefficient, this study proposes a method utilizing an actively adjustable electric field. The research employs a mesoscopic-scale pseudopotential model coupled with a leaky dielectric model. Four strategies were compared to evaluate their enhancement effects on condensation, including no electric field, horizontal placed electric field, vertical placed electric field, and exchanging electric field. The study subsequently explored the effects of exchanging time, conductivity ratio, permittivity ratio, and electric capillary number on condensation heat transfer. Results indicate that the strategy of exchanging the electric field direction yields the optimal enhancement, reducing the condensation cycle by 21.51% and increasing overall efficiency by 19.51%. An optimal exchanging time was identified when the droplet diameter reached 45 lattices. Furthermore, by determining the optimal electric field intensity exchanging strategies under varying conductivity and permittivity ratios, the condensation heat transfer efficiency was further optimized by 27.44%.