Liquid flow transition and confined free film formation on a vertical plate with an open window

•Multiple and dynamic flow structures are observed on plates with an open window.•The observation may indicate complex flow in void fraction of packed column.•Twin-liquid film is found to clarify mass transfer improvement.•A correlation is developed to characterize the film formation conditions. A n...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental thermal and fluid science 2018-04, Vol.92, p.174-183
Main Authors: Xie, Hanguang, Hu, Jianguang, Wang, Cheng, Dai, Gance
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Bedding
Critical flow
Empirical equations
Film formation
Flow rates
Flow transition
Flow velocity
Fluid dynamics
Fluid mechanics
Liquid flow
Mass transfer
Packed columns
Perforated plate
Plates (structural members)
Surface flow
Twin-liquid film
Window
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:•Multiple and dynamic flow structures are observed on plates with an open window.•The observation may indicate complex flow in void fraction of packed column.•Twin-liquid film is found to clarify mass transfer improvement.•A correlation is developed to characterize the film formation conditions. A novel element for gas–liquid contact, a plate with rectangular windows was designed to enhance absorption process. This paper describes some experimental observations of free-surface flows arising when thin liquid film flows through the window. Dozens of windows with different geometries and six fluids with Ka varying from 52 to 3000 were used to investigate the flow mechanism. Various free-surface flow patterns composed of droplets, columns, sheets and their combinations were observed in the window region with increasing liquid flow rate. At a critical flow rate, liquid film was able to full fill the window and unique wavy trains were observed (named as twin-liquid films). To characterize the film formation conditions, an empirical equation based on experimental data was proposed. Hysteresis phenomenon was manifested by obviously different flow rate for the film formation and breaking. Multiple and dynamic flow structures shown here would broaden traditional knowledge of liquid flow in packed columns and clarify the mechanism of mass transfer intensification for the perforated packings.
ISSN:0894-1777
1879-2286
DOI:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2017.11.013