Numerical Investigation of the Dropwise Condensation Process in Top of the Line Corrosion

Many approaches have been used for modelling Top of Line Corrosion (TLC) however there are a large discrepancies between their results. One common assumption is that TLC is limited by the amount of iron that can be transported with the condensed water. This means that the TLC rate is proportional to the water condensation rate and the iron solubility in the condensed phase. Therefore, a theoretical investigation is performed into the effects of gas inlet conditions on the water condensation rate in wet gas pipeline using Fluent. Comparisons were drawn with the semi-analytical model of Zhang et al. and CFD results showing good agreement between the two. The numerical results obtained reveal quantitatively how an increased inlet gas pressure leads to reductions in the condensation rate. While increasing inlet gas temperature and velocity lead to increases in condensation rate.