Simulation on falling film absorption based on lattice Boltzmann method at moderate Reynolds number

Abstract

The investigations on heat and mass transfer in the form of falling film flow were mainly focused on the simulation of heat and mass coupling adopting the continuity hypothesis of Navier-Stokes equations. Most of the previous works were done with laminar flow assumptions, or just deal with a very short smooth laminar section beyond the falling film entrance. In this paper, a study investigating the effects of wavy flow on stream absorption by falling liquid film is presented in the perspective of sorption refrigeration process. A multi-phase model lattice Boltzmann method is adopted to simulate the wavy falling liquid film flow, and the absorption process takes place in this flow field region. Absorption simulation was carried out using the laminar flow assumption with the semi-parabolic velocity distribution and the fluctuation results in the LBM simulation. When the overall simulation section is 1 m in length, with initial velocity 0.1 m/s for lithium bromide solution falling film flow, results show that the wave flow has apparent enhancement on heat and mass transfer. Local dimensionless numbers for mass (Sh) and heat (Nu) transfer with waves increase 4 times and 2 times, respectively, compared with the laminar flow.