EXPERIMENTAL STUDY FOR HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN WAVY FILM ABSORPTION WITH THE PRESENCE OF NON-ABSORBABLE GASES

Abstract

Experimental measurements for the heat and mass transfer in laminar wavy film absorption with the presence of non-absorbables are presented. Water vapor was absorbed into a falling film of aqueous lithium chloride solution on a vertical tube with the air present in the gas phase acting as the non-absorbable whose concentration was accurately detected by a mass spectrometer gas analyzer. Although the depressing effect of the air on the absorption rate was much more significant in the low air concentration range, the absorption reduction rate with increasing air concentration was found to be lower than that reported previously. The reduction was found to be continuous even up to 30% of air content. Besides the non-absorbables, the effects of other operational parameters such as solution flow rate, inlet solution temperature, inlet solution concentration, absorber wall temperature, absorber water vapor pressure, and effective contact length on the absorption rate were also tested. These effects were shown to...