The growth of a condensing water droplet of size millimeters in steam flow is experimentally measured using a CCD camera. The growth rate of the droplet is found to increase with the steam flowrate, which disagrees with previous theories. A CFD model is developed to simulate the internal flow and heat transfer of the droplet, and it predicts the droplet growth rate increases with the steam flowrate in good agreement (about 2% in deviation) with the experimental results. It is demonstrated that the steam shearing at the droplet surface causes an internal flow in the droplet. The internal flow, though small (less than 1% of the external steam flow in magnitude), convects the temperature profiles to the droplet bottom and causes a 10-25% enhancement in the heat transfer of the droplet. For droplets of the same bottom, the steam shearing effect is more significant with a larger droplet height. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.