Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
A numerical study of heat and mass transfer of water droplets using different geometrical parameters
Submission Author:
Diego Alexandre Agostini , SP
Co-Authors:
Diego Alexandre Agostini, Iago Lessa Oliveira, Vicente Luiz Scalon
Presenter: Iago Lessa Oliveira
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0760
Abstract
Humidification and dehumidification processes have a wide range of applications in various Engineering equipment. Cooling towers, for example, are equipment widely used in multiple systems to remove high rates of heat generated in processes such as nuclear reactors. Recently, similar devices have emerged that use desiccant liquids to remove moisture from the air stream. This type of device has relevant applications in the pharmaceutical industry and air conditioning systems. Considering the relevance of these various devices presented above, this study proposes to develop a numerical model capable of evaluating the conditions of droplet mass transfer. This assessment depends on a series of geometric and constructive characteristics of the equipment's liquid diffuser. The evaluation is done for different geometric conditions using the OpenFOAM numerical code. The OpenFOAM computational code has no changes implemented, and the mass transfer coefficient is obtained from the mass and energy transport equations analogy. Different droplet spacing and airflow results are evaluated numerically, and the Sherwood Number (Sh) is estimated as the mass transfer coefficient for these conditions. The results provide subsidies for cooling tower systems design according to the type and number of droplets generated. Other studies for the vapor pressure on the surface of desiccant substances also allow generalizing these studies to applications in desiccant liquids systems. Newer studies with new droplet sizes are very important to complement this work.
Keywords
Heat and mass transfer, dehumidification, Cooling Tower.
