Liquid-bridge flow on a vertical spiral spring and its mass transfer characteristics

• Published in: Chemical engineering science 2023-07, Vol.275, p.118738, Article 118738
• Main Authors: Zhang, Zhen, Han, Hong-ming, Cong, Hai-feng, Li, Xin-gang, Han, Zhen-wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CO2 capture; Gas absorption; HTU; Inner falling-film flow; Liquid-bridge flow; Spiral spring
• ISSN: 0009-2509; 1873-4405
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2023.118738

•A novel liquid-bridge flow between plate spiral channel was developed.•Liquid-bridge flow provides a longer residence time and larger gas–liquid contact surface.•The specific gas flow channel of spiral string makes the pressure drop extremely low.•The spiral spring has good mass transfer efficiency in carbon dioxide capture. Spiral liquid-bridge flows have significant potential for mass transfer and reactions. However, the spiral liquid-bridge formed by a circular-section spiral pipe column exhibits poor flow performance. Based on the characteristics of the liquid-bridge flow between the plates, the cross section of the spiral spring is optimized to be rectangular. We studied the hydrodynamic properties and mass-transfer performance of a liquid-bridge flow in detail. The flow pattern of the liquid-bridge was observed, and hydrodynamic data were measured. The results showed that the optimized spiral spring residence time and gas–liquid contact area increased. In the gas–liquid absorption experiment, the liquid mass-transfer coefficient, mass-transfer unit height, and pressure drop of the spiral spring were measured. The results showed that the spiral spring exhibited an excellent mass-transfer effect and a low pressure drop. In the experiment on CO2 capture by MEA, good performance was observed.