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Heat and Mass Transfer Enhancement for Falling Film Absorption Process in Vertical Plate Absorber by Adding Copper Nanoparticles

  • Research Article - Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

This paper examined the effect of nanoparticles on the absorption of vapor into a liquid film of lithium bromide aqueous solution flowing down over a cooled vertical channel. For this, we realized a two-dimensional code which solves the governing equations using Comsol Multiphysics. In this model, the cooling water flows countercurrent to a solution of concentrated lithium bromide mixed with the copper nanoparticles. After the validation of the model, the effects of parameters such as Reynolds number, solid volume fraction of copper nanoparticles, inlet concentration and inlet temperature of solution on the performance of the absorption are presented and discussed. The important results indicate that the mass and heat transfer in binary nanofluids are enhanced more than that in base fluid and the efficiency of the nanofluid becomes higher to that of the base fluid for a lower Reynolds number and the inlet concentration and for a higher inlet temperature of solution.

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Abbreviations

C :

Mass concentration, wt% LiBr

D :

Diffusion coefficient, \(\hbox {m}^{2}/\hbox {s}\)

Cp:

Specific heat at constant pressure, kJ/kg K

g :

Gravitational acceleration, \(\hbox {m/s}^{2}\)

\(H_\mathrm{abs}\) :

Enthalpy of absorption, J/Kg

\(\hbox {H}_{2}\hbox {O}\) :

Water

h :

Enthalpy, J/Kg

k :

Thermal conductivity, W/m K

L :

Length of plate, m

\(M_{\mathrm{surf}}\) :

Total mass transfer rate absorbed kg/m.s

\(m_{\mathrm{surf}}\) :

Absorption mass flux, \(\hbox {kg/m}^{2}\).s

Nu :

Nusselt number

Q :

Heat transfer rate, kW

\(R_{\mathrm{eff,abs}}\) :

Effective absorption ratio

Re :

Reynold’s number

T :

Temperature, K

P :

Pressure, Pa

u :

Velocity in x-direction, \(\hbox {m s}^{-1}\)

v :

Velocity in y-direction, \(\hbox {m s}^{-1}\)

x :

Coordinate in direction perpendicular to flow, m

y :

Coordinate in direction of flow, m

\(\phi \) :

Solid volume fraction of nanoparticles

\(\delta \) :

Liquid film thickness, m

\(\mu \) :

Dynamic viscosity, kg/m s

\(\rho \) :

Density, \(\hbox {kg/m}^{3}\)

\(\Gamma \) :

Liquid mass flow rate per unit width, kg/m.s

abs:

Absorption process

bulk:

Bulk solution

c:

Cooling water

f:

Fluid

in:

Inlet

nf:

Binary nanofluid

out:

Outlet

p:

Nanoparticles

surf:

Interface

W:

Wall

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, High School of Sciences and Technology of Hammam Sousse (ESSTHS), University of Sousse, Street Lamine Abassi, 4011, Sousse, Tunisia

    Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida

  2. Department of Process Engineering, National School of Engineers of Gabes (ENIG), University of Gabes, Street Omar Ibn El Khattab, Zrig, 6029, Gabes, Tunisia

    Jalel Belghaieb & Nejib Hajji

  3. Research Unit of Energy and Environment Ionized, National School of Engineers of Gabes (ENIG), University of Gabes, Street Omar Ibn El Khattab, Zrig, 6029, Gabes, Tunisia

    Jalel Belghaieb & Nejib Hajji

Authors
  1. Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida
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  2. Jalel Belghaieb
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  3. Nejib Hajji
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Correspondence to Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida.

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Ben Hamida, M.B., Belghaieb, J. & Hajji, N. Heat and Mass Transfer Enhancement for Falling Film Absorption Process in Vertical Plate Absorber by Adding Copper Nanoparticles. Arab J Sci Eng 43, 4991–5001 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3252-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-018-3252-9

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