Analysis of heat and mass transfer between air and falling film desiccant for different flow configurations in the presence of ultrafine particles

This work focuses on the enhancement of heat and mass transfer between air and falling desiccant film for different flow channel configurations. Cu-Ultrafine particles are added to the desiccant film to investigate the enhancement in heat and mass transfer between air and desiccant film for dehumidification and cooling processes of the air and regeneration of desiccant film. A detailed comparative study between parallel and counter flow channels is performed using a parametric study to investigate the enhancements in dehumidification, cooling, and regeneration processes in terms of the pertinent parameters. The results reveal that the parallel flow arrangement provides better dehumidification and cooling for the air than the counter flow channel for a wide range of parameters.; Next, the inclined parallel and counter flow configurations are investigated using an Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) and successive over-relaxation methods to discretize the vorticity and stream-function equations, respectively. A parametric study is employed to investigate the inclination angle effects in enhancing the heat and mass transfer in terms of the controlling parameters. It is shown that inclination angle plays a significant role in enhancing the dehumidification, cooling, and regeneration processes.; Finally, the enhancements in heat and mass transfer in cross flow channel between air and desiccant film is examined based on a parametric study to investigate the dehumidification and cooling processes of the air in terms of the pertinent controlling parameters. These parameters are air and desiccant Reynolds numbers, dimensions of the channel, volume fraction of Cu-ultrafine particles, and thermal dispersion effects. It is found that an increase in the Cu-volume fraction increases dehumidification and cooling capabilities and produce more stable Cu-desiccant film.