The condensation of moist air plays an important role in daily life and industry. During the condensation process, single-phase and phase-change heat transfers occur simultaneously. A three-dimensional finned tube is an effective element for enhancing heat transfer. However, the latent and sensible heat transfer during moist air condensation outside a three-dimensional finned tube has not been experimentally studied. In this study, experiments were performed using a three-dimensional finned tube to enhance the moist air condensation process. For a better understanding of the enhancement mechanism, latent and sensible heat transfer variations with relative humidity ranging from 0.75 to 0.95 and Reynolds numbers ranging from 838 to 3444 were obtained and analysed. A smooth tube was used for the comparison. The experimental results indicated that the three-dimensional finned tube was favourable for the enhancement of moist air condensation, especially for latent heat transfer. When the Reynolds number was 2504, the latent and sensible heat transfers of the three-dimensional finned tube were 43.6%–81.8% and 15.6%–22.9% higher than those of the smooth tube, respectively. In addition, the latent and sensible heat transfers of the three-dimensional finned tube and the smooth tube were obtained under different velocities of moist air, and empirical correlations were developed to predict the sensible and latent heat transfers with deviations of less than ± 20%. The results obtained can provide a reference for the design of three-dimensional finned tubes used in moist air condensation.

潮湿空气的冷凝在日常生活和工业中起着重要作用。在冷凝过程中，单相传热和相变传热同时发生。三维翅片管是增强传热的有效元件。然而，尚未对三维翅片管外潮湿空气冷凝过程中的潜热和显热传递进行实验研究。在这项研究中，使用三维翅片管进行实验以增强湿空气冷凝过程。为了更好地理解增强机制，获得并分析了相对湿度范围为 0.75 至 0.95 和雷诺数范围为 838 至 3444 的潜热和显热传递变化。使用光滑管进行比较。实验结果表明，三维翅片管有利于增强湿空气冷凝，尤其是潜热传递。当雷诺数为2504时，三维翅片管的潜热传递和显热传递分别比光滑管高43.6%~81.8%和15.6%~22.9%。此外，获得了三维翅片管和光滑管在不同湿空气速度下的潜热和显热传递，并建立了经验相关性来预测显热和潜热传递，偏差小于±20% . 所得结果可为湿空气冷凝用三维翅片管的设计提供参考。