Simple model for the design of vertical tube absorbers

摘要

The absorption of water vapor in aqueous solutions of lithium bromide is modeled for a falling-film, vertical-tube absorber. The model is based on the solution of three ordinary differential equations to calculate solution bulk and interface concentration and temperature distributions and the coolant temperature distribution. The heat and mass transfer coefficients employed in the equations are extracted from the literature. In this way, the model incorporates recent information on wavy-laminar flows. Under certain conditions, the solution exhibits instabilities in the entrance region of the absorber tube, which are corrected by the introduction of a dampening factor incorporating relevant thermophysical properties. The usefulness of the model for generating absorber performance charts is demonstrated.