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Effects of dimensions on the fluid flow and mass transfer characteristics in wavy-walled tubes for steady flow

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Abstract

Flow and mass transfer characteristics in axisymmetric sinusoidal wavy-walled tubes with different dimensions are investigated experimentally. The overall pressure drops are measured with U-manometer, and the measurements of mass transfer rate are performed by the electrochemical method, while the flow patterns are visualized by the aluminum dust method. The results showed that the wavelength and amplitude of the wavy-walled tubes obviously affect the fluid flow and mass transfer characteristics. With the increment of the wave factor F w , the overall pressure drop increase and thus leads to an earlier shift of transitional flow to turbulence as well as a better mass transfer enhancement. Furthermore, mass transfer enhancement is compared with the corresponding straight-walled tube under equal pumping power condition. It is found that the greater mass transfer enhancement appears at the moderate Reynolds number, and the optimum mass transfer enhancement could be obtained in the wavy-walled tube with F w  = 0.5. Based on the flow visualization results, the characteristics of the flow structures in wavy-walled tube with different dimensions are displayed clearly.

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Abbreviations

a :

Wave amplitude for wavy-walled tube (m)

A :

Mass transfer surface area for one wavelength (m2)

C b :

Concentration of the ferricyanide ion (mol m−3)

D :

The molecular diffusivity of ferricyanide ion (m2 s−1)

D max :

Maximum diameter for wavy-walled tube (m)

D min :

Minimum diameter for wavy-walled tube (m)

f :

Friction factor (−)

F :

Faraday constant (C mol−1)

F w :

Wave factor (−)

F wopt :

Optimum wave factor (−)

Δh :

Height difference of the indicator solution (m)

i d :

Diffusional current (A)

L :

Length between two taps of manometer (m)

P :

Oscillatory fraction of flow rate (−)

ΔP :

Overall pressure drop (Pa)

Q S :

Steady flow rate (m3 s−1)

Re :

Reynolds number for steady flow (−)

Re c :

Critical Reynolds number (−)

Sc :

Schmidt number (−)

Sh :

Sherwood number (−)

Sh str :

Sherwood number of straight-walled tube (−)

Sh w :

Sherwood number of wavy-walled tube (−)

u :

Axial velocity at maximum circular cross section (m s−1)

λ :

Wavelength for wavy-walled tube (m)

μ :

Viscosity of working fluid (Pa s)

ρ :

Density of working fluid (kg m−3)

ρ’ :

Density of indicator solution (kg m−3)

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11172059) and the National Key Basic Research Development Program (973 Program, No. 2011CB706500)).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, People’s Republic of China

    Yongning Bian, Jingbin Zhu & Congling Li

  2. School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jilin Institute of Chemical Technology, Jilin, 132022, People’s Republic of China

    Li Chen

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  1. Yongning Bian
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  2. Li Chen
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  3. Jingbin Zhu
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  4. Congling Li
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Correspondence to Li Chen.

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Bian, Y., Chen, L., Zhu, J. et al. Effects of dimensions on the fluid flow and mass transfer characteristics in wavy-walled tubes for steady flow. Heat Mass Transfer 49, 723–731 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-013-1114-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-013-1114-2

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