Effect of adding copper oxide nanoparticles on the mass/heat transfer in falling film absorption

Absorber is an essential component that affects the efficiency of absorption refrigeration unit. Falling film absorption is one of the most widespread forms of the heat/mass transfer in absorption system. In this paper, based on the software COMSOL Multiphysics, the finite element method is used to establish the model of falling film absorption. The falling film absorption properties of nanofluids was studied by adding CuO nanoparticles. The results reveal that as the film flow rate increases, the average mass transfer flux rises first and then decreases. The average mass transfer flux increases with the rise of the concentration of solution at the inlet, the decrease of the temperature of solution at the inlet and the reduction of cooling water inlet temperature. After adding copper oxide nanoparticles to lithium bromide solution, the vapor absorption performance of lithium bromide solution can be significantly improved