Study of a laminar falling film flowing over a wavy wall column: Part I. Numerical investigation of the flow pattern and the coupled heat and mass transfer

Abstract

Flow pattern and heat and mass transfer characteristics for a film flowing over a vertical wavy column are numerically investigated in a laminar flow regime. In our approach, the heat and mass transfer coefficients are avoided in order to include hydrodynamics directly in the heat and mass transfer rates. As a consequence the numerical model is decomposed into two steps. Firstly, the flow pattern for a film with a free interface is developed. Secondly, heat and mass transfer are investigated with the incorporation of velocity fields. The heat and mass transfer coefficients increase in laminar flow.