The Synergism Between Heat and Mass Transfer Additive and Advanced Surfaces in Aqueous LiBr Horizontal Tube Absorbers

Experiments were conducted in a laboratory to investigate the absorption of water vapor into a falling-film of aqueous lithium bromide (LiBr). A mini-absorber test stand was used to test smooth tubes and a variety of advanced tube surfaces placed horizontally in a single-row bundle. The bundle had six copper tubes; each tube had an outside diameter of 15.9-mm and a length of 0.32-m. A unique feature of the stand is its ability to operate continuously and support testing of LiBr brine at mass fractions {ge} 0.62. The test stand can also support testing to study the effect of the failing film mass flow rate, the coolant mass flow rate, the coolant temperature, the absorber pressure and the tube spacing. Manufacturers of absorption chillers add small quantities of a heat and mass transfer additive to improve the performance of the absorbers. The additive causes surface stirring which enhances the transport of absorbate into the bulk of the film. Absorption may also be enhanced with advanced tube surfaces that mechanically induce secondary flows in the falling film without increasing the thickness of the film. Several tube geometry's were identified and tested with the intent of mixing the film and renewing the interface with fresh solution from the tube wall. Testing was completed on a smooth tube and several different externally enhanced tube surfaces. Experiments were conducted over the operating conditions of 6.5 mm Hg absorber pressure, coolant temperatures ranging from 20 to 35 C and LiBr mass fractions ranging from 0.60 through 0.62. Initially the effect of tube spacing was investigated for the smooth tube surface, tested with no heat and mass transfer additive. Test results showed the absorber load and the mass absorbed increased as the tube spacing increased because of the improved wetting of the tube bundle. However, tube spacing was not a critical factor if heat and mass transfer additive was active in the mini-absorber. The additive dramatically affected the hydrodynamics of the falling film and a droplet flow regime was evident for testing at all tube spacings. The mechanical mixing of the advanced surfaces increased the mass transfer to about 75% of that observed on a smooth tube bundle, tested with heat and mass transfer additive. Testing with heat and mass transfer additive and advanced surfaces demonstrated a synergistic effect which doubled the mass absorbed from that observed with only the advanced surface. The overall film-side heat transfer coefficient for the advanced tube bundles doubled with the addition of 500-wppm of 2-ethyl-1- hexanol