Effects of a Nonabsorbable Gas on Interfacial Heat and Mass Transfer for the Entrance Region of a Falling Film Absorber

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Ameel ◽  
H. M. Habib ◽  
B. D. Wood

An analytical solution is presented for the effect of air (nonabsorbable gas) on the heat and mass transfer rates during the absorption of water vapor (absorbate) by a falling laminar film of aqueous lithium bromide (absorbent), an important process in a proposed open-cycle solar absorption cooling system. The analysis was restricted to the entrance region where an analytical solution is possible. The model consists of a falling film of aqueous lithium bromide flowing down a vertical wall which is kept at uniform temperature. The liquid film is in contact with a gas consisting of a mixture of water vapor and air. The gas phase is moving under the influence of the drag from the falling liquid film. The governing equations are written with a set of interfacial and boundary conditions and solved analytically for the two phases. Heat and mass transfer results are presented for a range of uniform inlet air concentrations. It was found that the concentration of the nonabsorbable gas increases sharply at the liquid gas interface. The absorption of the absorbate in the entrance region showed a continuous reduction with an increase in the amount of air.

2018 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 01007
Author(s):  
Maria V. Bartashevich

Mathematical model of conjugated heat and mass transfer in absorption on the entrance region of the semi-infinite liquid film of lithium bromide water solution is investigated for different values of Froude number. The calculations shown that larger values of Froude number corresponds to a smaller thickness of the falling film. It was demonstrated that for large values of the Froude number the heat transfer from the surface is greater than for smaller values.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Miller ◽  
Majid Keyhani

A study of simultaneous heat and mass transfer was conducted on a vertical falling film absorber to better understand the mechanisms driving the heat and mass transfer processes. Thermographic phosphors were successfully used to measure the temperature profile along the length of the absorber test tube. These measures of the local variations in temperature enabled calculation of the bulk concentration along the length of the absorber. The bulk concentration varied linearly, which infers that the concentration gradient in the direction of flow is approximately constant. The implication is that the mass flux and therefore the absorber load can be solved for using a constant flux approximation. Design data and correlations are sparse in the open literature. Some experimental data are available; however, all literature data to date have been derived at mass fractions of lithium bromide ranging from 0.30 to 0.60. Experiments were therefore conducted with no heat and mass transfer additive on an internally cooled smooth tube of 0.01905-m outside diameter and of 1.53-m length. The data, for testing at 0.62 and 0.64 mass fraction, were scaled and correlated into both Nu and Sh formulations. The average absolute error in the Nu correlation is about ±3.5% of the Nu number reduced from the experimental data. The Sh correlation is about ±5% of the reduced Sh data. Data from the open literature were reduced to the authors Nu and Sh formulations, and were within 5% of the correlations developed in the present study. The study therefore provides test data with no heat and mass transfer additive and correlations for the coupled heat- and mass-transfer process that are validated against the extensive experimental data.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Miller ◽  
Majid Keyhani

Abstract Absorption chillers are gaining global acceptance as quality comfort cooling systems. These machines are the central chilling plants and the supply for comfort cooling for many large commercial buildings. Virtually all absorption chillers use lithium bromide (LiBr) and water as the absorption fluids. Water is the refrigerant. Research has shown LiBr to be one of the best absorption working fluids because it has a high affinity for water, releases water vapor at relatively low temperatures, and has a boiling point much higher than that of water. The heart of the chiller is the absorber, where a process of simultaneous heat and mass transfer occurs as the refrigerant water vapor is absorbed into a falling film of aqueous LiBr. The more water vapor absorbed into the falling film, the larger the chiller’s capacity for supporting comfort cooling. Improving the performance of the absorber leads directly to efficiency gains for the chiller. The design of an absorber is very empirical and requires experimental data. Yet design data and correlations are sparse in the open literature. The experimental data available to date have been derived at LiBr concentrations ranging from 0.30 to 0.60 mass fraction. No literature data are readily available for the design operating conditions of 0.62 and 0.64 mass fraction of LiBr and absorber pressures of 0.7 and 1.0 kPa. Experiments were conducted on an internally cooled smooth tube 0.01905 m in outside diameter and 1.53 m in length. Tests were conducted with no heat and mass transfer additive. The data, for testing at 0.62 and 0.64 mass fraction of LiBr, were scaled and correlated into both Nusselt (Nu) and Sherwood (Sh) formulations. The average absolute error in the Nusselt correlation is about ±3.5% of the Nu number reduced from the experimental data. The Sherwood correlation is about ±5% of the reduced Sh data. Data from the open literature were reduced to the authors’ Nu and Sh formulations and were within 5% of the correlations developed in the present study. Hence, this study provides correlations for the complex heat and mass transfer process that is validated against extensive experimental data. The study therefore contains useful information for the design of a vertical column absorber operating with no heat and mass transfer additive.


Author(s):  
Takao Nagasaki ◽  
Hirokuni Akiyama ◽  
Hiroshi Nakagawa ◽  
Yutaka Ito

Numerical simulations have been made on the flow and heat-and-mass transfer in a laminar liquid film falling down along a vertical wall by using a boundary-fitted coordinate system. The development of a two-dimensional wave was successfully predicted, which consists of a large solitary wave and ripple waves in front of it. In the large wave a circulating flow exists, and the heat and mass transfer is enhanced by the wave. Further, it was shown by a three-dimensional calculation that a two-dimensional wave becomes unstable with the increase of Re number, resulting in U-shaped three-dimensional wave. The mass transfer rate increases with the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional waves. The calculated mass transfer coefficient roughly agrees with empirical correlations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 984-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamza M. Habib ◽  
Byard D. Wood

Numerical solutions are presented for the effect of a non-absorbable gas on the heat and mass transfer rates during the absorption of water vapor by a falling laminar smooth film of an aqueous lithium bromide or aqueous lithium chloride solution (absorbent). The geometry consists of a vertical channel with two walls, one of which is isothermal and the other adiabatic. The liquid film of an absorbent flows down over the isothermal wall, while a mixture of water vapor and air flows between the liquid free-surface and the adiabatic wall. The whole system is kept under vacuum pressure. Water vapor is absorbed by the film and air is the non-absorbable gas. The momentum, energy, and concentration equations are written with a set of interfacial and boundary conditions and solved numerically for the two phases. Variable property effects are included, as well as the interfacial shear. Heat and mass transfer results are presented over a wide range of inlet air concentrations. The average mass fluxes showed a continuous reduction with an increase in the amount of air for a concentration of air as high as 40 percent by weight. But the local mass fluxes showed a different behavior from the absorption of a pure vapor case. The decrease was much higher at the entrance than in a pure vapor case. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental data available for lithium chloride. The model has promise as means of predicting the heat and mass transfer characteristics of falling film absorber.


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