Mass Transfer in an Adiabatic Rectifier of Ammonia-Water Absorption System

Falling film rectification involves simultaneous heat and mass transfer between vapor and solution film. In the present work, the adiabatic rectification process of ammonia-water vapor by the falling solution film on the vertical plate was investigated. The continuity momentum, energy and diffusion equations for the solution film and the vapor mixture were formulated in integral forms and solved numerically, The model could predict the film thickness, the pressure gradient, and the mass transfer rate. The effects of Reynolds number and ammonia concentration of solution and vapor mixture, rectifier length, and the enhancement of mass transfer coefficient in each phases were investigated. The stripping of water in vapor mixture occurred near the entrance of ammonia solution, which imposed the proper size of an adiabatic rectifier. Rectifier efficiency increased as film Reynolds number increased and as vapor mixture Reynolds number decreased. The improvement of rectifier efficiency was significant with the enhancement of mass transfer coefficient in falling film.