Transient heat and mass transfer in laminar flow forced convection in ducts

Abstract

The modelling of heat and mass regenerators often assumes the heat and mass transfer coefficients to be uniform and constant with time and position within the flow passages of the regenerator. This paper presents a study to examine the validity of this assumption. Experimental breakthrough curves of a single-blow test facility with a desiccant regenerator matrix are examined using a separation technique. The response curves are input to a model which computes the temporal and spatial distributions of the air-side heat and mass transfer coefficients. It is found that the variation of the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers is small for the slower mass transfer waves which determines the performance of regenerative dehumidifiers. The separation technique proves to be a powerful procedure for analysing experimental breakthrough curves.status: publishe