Abstract
An investigation into the effect of surfactants on ammonia-water bubble absorption is presented. Heat and mass transfer in a 50–200 W bubble absorber are experimentally investigated at operating conditions spanning a wide range of working and coupling fluid conditions. The effect of surfactant is assessed by adding 50–2000 PPM of 1-octanol to the ammonia-water mixture. Absorber performance is enhanced by surfactants, with the highest enhancement of 35% observed at vapor Reynolds number > 1000. The effect of surfactant concentration on bubble absorption is also discussed. A segmental model for heat and mass transfer is developed and comparison with experimental data yields good agreement with an AAD of 8.3%. Temperature and mass flow rate profiles along the height of the absorber provide insights into the absorption enhancement mechanism in the presence of surfactants. The results from this study show the potential for these passive enhancement techniques to be implemented in ammonia–water absorption systems.
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