Experimental investigation of heat transfer during water vapor condensation in the presence of air and CO2 for application to oxyfuel flue gas condensers

Abstract The presence of noncondensable gases significantly affects heat transfer during water vapor condensation in condensers used in oxyfuel carbon capture and storage technology. In this process, the separation of water vapor from flue gas is essential to achieve high purity CO2 for storage or utilization. However, the design of effective oxyfuel flue gas condensers is challenging due to a lack of experimental data. This study aims to experimentally establish a heat transfer correlation for water vapor-air condensation and its applicability to water vapor-CO2 condensation. CO2 was found to inhibit water vapor condensation more than air. The condensation process is affected not only by the noncondensable gas concentration and water vapor flow rate, but also by the composition of the gas mixture. Experimental correlations derived from the physical basis of the phenomena have been developed for water vapor condensation in the presence of both air and CO2. These correlations enable the prediction of the heat transfer coefficient for flue gas condensation using the extensive experimental data on water vapor-air mixtures.