Mass transfer of aerosols with axial diffusion in narrow rectangular channels

Abstract

The problem of mass transfer of aerosols with axial, as well as radial, diffusion in laminar flow in a narrow rectangular channel is studied. Two cases are investigated. The first case is where all particles enter the channel inlet and none form within the channel; and the second, where no particles enter the channel, and “formation in flight” occurs within the channel. For each case, analyses are made for both slug and Poiseuille flows.

The first twenty modes of the eigenvalues, the eigenfunctions, and the coefficients of series expansion are obtained for several diffusion Péclet numbers, Pe. The first twelve of them are presented for Pe=1, 5, 10, 100, and ∞. Asymptotic expressions for the eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions are also given.

The effects of axial diffusion on the local particle concentration, the bulk concentration, the Sherwood number, and the fraction of aerosols arriving at any cross-section of the channel are studied for various diffusion Péclet numbers. It was found that, for diffusion with or without formation in flight, the effect of axial diffusion may be neglected at an axial distance from the channel inlet greater than one and a half times that of the channel height for 1<Pe<100.