On the absorption rate of membrane-based adiabatic sorber beds: An analytical approach

Abstract

Membrane-based sorber beds play a key role in numerous engineering applications. As an emerging design, adiabatic membrane-based sorber beds can provide compact heat and mass exchangers. For the first time, this study presents two analytical solutions for coupled heat and mass transfer in the flat and hollow fiber membrane-based adiabatic sorber beds used in absorption heat pump/chiller applications. The similarity solution and Laplace transform method are used to develop the analytical models. The proposed models are validated with experimental data and numerical results available in the literature. In addition, a parametric study is performed to analyze the impact of operating conditions and the physical properties of membrane on the absorption rate. Based on the parametric study, the solution inlet concentration is the most effective parameter for increasing the absorption rate. Also, porosity is the key membrane property for enhancing absorption rate. It is shown that the absorption rate of a flat membrane-based sorber bed is higher than that of a hollow fiber membrane-based sorber bed under the same conditions.