The influence of liquid-side mass transfer on heat transfer and selectivity during surface and nucleate boiling of liquid mixtures in a falling film

Abstract

Experimental studies using a falling film apparatus and a theoretical analysis of heat and mass transfer for mixtures lead to the following results. During nucleate boiling the separation effect, that is, the selectivity, and the heat transfer are influenced to a great extent by liquid-side mass transfer resistances. The selectivity diminishes significantly with increasing heat flux. The heat transfer coefficients for boiling mixtures can be much lower than for pure substances. For the calculations liquid-side mass transfer resistances were assumed to be the only reason for the reduction of both the selectivity and the heat transfer coefficients. No further physical explanations were needed. During surface boiling the reduction of the heat transfer coefficients is negligible for practical applications. The selectivity is mainly controlled by the thermodynamic equilibrium. The liquid-side mass transfer coefficients are of the same order of magnitude as found in physical absorption and absorption with chemical reactions, i.e. (2–5) × 10 −4 ms −1. The effect if liquid-side mass transfer resistances on heat transfer and selectivity during partial evaporation of the binary refrigerant mixture R11–R113 in a falling film apparatus was investigated by varying the heat flux, the film Reynolds number and the liquid composition. During surface boiling the reduction of the heat transfer coefficients in negligible for technical applications, because of the minor deviations from evaporation which are mainly controlled by thermodynamic equilibrium. Nevertheless, the liquid-side mass transfer coefficients, which can be determined by the measured vapour and liquid mole fractions, are of the same order of magnitude as in physical absorption and absorption with chemical reactions, i.e. β ℓ = (2–5) × 10 −4 m s −1. The coupled heat and mass transfer during falling film evaporatation of mixtures, condensation and absorption [17,19] can be calculated with the same relationships as for the hydrodynamics of falling films. During nucleate boiling the selectivity diminishes significantly and heat transfer is influenced to a great extent by liquid-side mass transfer resistances. There is considerable deviation form evaporation controlled exclusively by thermodynamic equilibrium. The heat transfer coefficients α for the R11–R113 mixture as well as for ten other binary and two ternary mixtures could be calculated assuming the mass transfer resistances to be the only reason for the reduction of the heat transfer coefficient α during boiling of mixtures. No other physical explanations were needed. The calculation method is easily extendable to multicomponent mixtures, if the corresponding vapour-liquid equilibria are available.