AbstractOur work was restricted to elementary models of condensation, coupling a laminar water film with an air-steam mixture boundary layer, under steady-state conditions, for some simple physical situations. We tested two categories of models. The models in the first category are merely the set of balance equations for which Sparrow’s numerical solutions have been replaced by Rose’s closed-form solutions. The models in the second category make use of correlations of mass transfer obtained by the Chilton-Colburn analogy and assumed closure laws concerning heat transfer across the film. The closed form of the solutions enabled us to propose numerical algorithms without integration, which we programmed in BASIC language. The differences we found between the results of the experiment and those of the models are systematic and positive, the calculated values being 50% less than the experimental results, on average. Comparing the abilities of the models, the situation of laminar-forced convection along a flat plate, whether the mixture is superheated or not, is the only situation where the model, using boundary layer theory, gives exact results. For the situation of turbulent free convection along a vertical wall, e.g., the containment wall of a pressurized water reactor system, the model, using the Chilton-Colburn analogy, gives only approximate results.