The Chemical Engineering Journal, 37 (1988) 165 - 176 165

Heat and Mass Transfer in Wetted-wall Columns: I

P. L. SPEDDING
Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University of Belfast, Belfast BT9 5AH (U.K.)

M. T. JONES
Health Department, Auckland (New Zealand)

(Received March 18, 1987; in final form August 21, 1987)

ABSTRACT highly soluble gas. A more convenient method

is to measure the rate of evaporation of a pure
Mass and heat transfer data are reported for liquid into a gas stream since with this
humidification of air in a 4.04 cm diameter method the conditions can be adjusted so that
glass wetted-wall column with height varied there is no resistance due to diffusion in the
between 0.723 m and 3.538 m. The apparatus liquid. Liquid film coefficients are determined
was specifically designed to eliminate any by measuring the rate of absorption or
geometrical end effect but it was not possible desorption of pure gases or gases of low
to remove rippling of the liquid film. solubility.
Data were shown to vary with gas Reynolds Most investigators have presented results
number relative to the liquid film. There was for wetted-wall columns either in terms of the
a minor effect of liquid flow rate but no ratio of tower diameter to gas film thickness,
height effect was observed. The mass transfer a Nusselt-type number or the j-factors of
correlation as d/x agreed with reported data Chilton and Colburn.
and there was an identifiable end effect. The dimensionless group d/x is derived
Heat transfer data were reported for the from the rate of transfer
adiabatic operation as there was an effect of
inlet gas temperature. No end effect was N*= j& sM @G-Pi) = lhG@G-Pi) (1)
observed under these conditions.

(2)
1. INTRODUCTION
or
Wetted-wall columns have been used exten- d
-= ‘hoRTdpBM
sively in the investigation of mass transfer (3)
X
between gas and liquid. The liquid flows as a DG&

film down the inside surface of a vertical tube or

with the gas flowing through the centre of the d
-=
RTdp,, NA
tube. The rate of mass transfer is calculated (4)
X DGPT @G -Pi)
from the analyses of the gas and liquid
entering and leaving the apparatus. Wetted- (For definitions of these and other variables
wall columns are simple in design and have see Appendix A.) These equations refer to a
been assumed to possess the important point value only. The value of @o-pi) is
advantage that the interfacial area should be usually calculated as a logarithmic mean
able to be measured accurately, whereas for between the bottom point 1 and top point 2
example in packed columns the area of the of the tower. If the logarithmic mean Ap, is
liquid film is a variable which cannot be mea- defined by
sured with any degree of precision.
The gas film coefficient may be determined Ap = @G -Pi)Z - @G -Pi)1
(5)
by measuring the rate of absorption of a A ln{@G -Pi)d@G -Pi)11

0300-9467/88/$3.50 0 Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands

166

then give a sharp edge on the inner circumference

that formed the weir over which the water
d RTdp,, x NA
-= (6) was distributed to form a continuous thin
X D&T APA film into the wetted-wall section as shown in
Equation (6) assumes that the logarithmic Fig. 2. The water was contained in the
mean partial pressure difference ApA is an enclosing collar by means of “0” rings.
accurate approximation to the true integrated
mean. This has usually been assumed suffi-
cient for adiabatic humidification of air
[l -51.
Another mass transfer group which is
defined in a similar manner is the Nusselt-
type number, which for low concentrations
leads to
d k,d PBM
-= -x-
X PDG PT

The d/x ratio has been shown to be

proportional to Re o**3 SC’*~~by Coulson and
Richardson [ 61.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the wetted-wall column
The Chilton and Colburn [7] j-factor for
apparatus.
mass transfer is also used while heat transfer
data in wetted-wall columns are usually
reported in either of two forms, the Nusselt
number hhd/kh or the &-factor.
AIR
^.___ _
Investigations carried out on mass transfer
in wetted-wall columns are summarised in
Table 1.
‘Et?
LL

l---T
THERMCOUPLE
2. APPARATUS WELL : . _. ,.
.‘.‘._I
.. . .

Two different designs of apparatus were

used in this work. A preliminary group of
-RING
experiments were run on the effect of tower
height before more detailed geometric effects
were examined.
A schematic diagram of the apparatus is
WAT;R + 4
shown in Fig. 1. The unit was constructed of INLET WATER
I OUTLET
4.04 cm internal diameter Q.V.F. drain line AIR

glassware such that the wetted length could
be altered by joining various lengths of pipe
so that no discontinuities occur on the inside
wall of the wetted section. Tower heights of
0.723, 1.700, 2.337, 2.980 and 3.538 m were
used. Calming lengths were provided for air
inlet and outlet. The lower end of the upper
calming length was ground flat. A 15 cm
length of Perspex tube bored to the inside
diameter of the pipe formed the upper por-
tion of the wetted section, set below the
upper calming length and connected to it by
an enclosing collar. The upper end of this
Perspex tube was bevelled at a 45” angle to
Fig. 2. Water distributor on the wetted-wall column.
Water was supplied from a reservoir via a
pump and a calibrated rotameter capable of
delivering 0 - 0.045 X 10d3 m3 s-‘. The water
entered at the base of the distributor and rose
through calming baffles which also acted as
centralizers for the pipe.
Water was allowed to build up beyond the
weir level by removing the air bleed plug. The
50 cm long upper calming section, made of
Perspex with a 4.04 cm bore, could be
raised or lowered to adjust the gap over the
weir. The gap was usually set at a distance
TABLE 1
Mass transfer in wetted wall columns

Reference Year System d I Liquid rate Gas rate Comments

(cm) (cm) (I min-I) (I min-I)

Haslam et al. [8,9] 1923 S02/water 20.3 76.1 2.7 - 2.8 50 - 230 }
of historical interest only
Haslametal. [10] 1924 S02/water 7.62 91.44 1.8 2.5-130
NH 3/water
Greenwalt [11] 1926 H 2S0 4/air; 2.54 78.7 not reported 7.5'- 150 entrance effects studied
dehumidification 5.08 68.7
Hanks and McAdams [12] 1929 NH 3/water 4.95 84.5 1.8 0.6 - 50 solution effect studied
Harte and Baker [13] 1933 CO 2/sodium 2.54 152 0.96 12 liq uor concentration
carbonate- effect studied
bicarbonate
Gilliland and Sherwood [1] 1934 Various liquids/air; 2.67 117 0.79 35 - 490 classic work: end effects
vaporisation studied
Chilton and Colburn [7] 1934 water/air 2.64 170 0.52 33 - 144 classic work
Hollings and Silver [14] 1934 NH 3 , S02. H 2S/ 1 15 0.07 0.1 - 9 general work only
water
Chambers and Sherwood [15] 1937 N0 2/water, S02/ 1.46 95 not reported 20 - 50 classic work: wetting
NaOH; humidi- agents tested
fication
Barnet and Kobe [3] 1941 water/air; 2.54 122 0.07 - 0.68 17 - 350 end effects minimised:
humidification considerable data
Van Krevelen et al. [16] 1949 CO 2/water; 3 30 - 100 not reported 2 - 240. entrance effects studied
humidification
Jackson and Ceaglske [17 ] 1950 various liquids/air; 3.81 183 not reported 60 - 670 intermediate sampling:
vaporisation used considerable data
Emmert and Pigford [18] ]954 O 2, CO 2/water; 2.4 3.87,113.7 0.28 - 1.1 not reported
absorption,
desorption
Cairns and Roper [4] 1954 water/air; 2.29 94.6 0.20 - 1.1 10-155
humidification high humidities and
2.64 94.6 0.53 - 0.57 8 - 40 solute effect studied
Cairns and Roper [5] 1955 water/air;
humidification \. ~,

Lynn et al. [19] 1955 S02/water, HCI, 1.5 12 - 22 0.097 - 0.776 not reported
NaCI solutions ......
Ol
Lynn et al. [20] 1955 S02/water 1.5 1 -5 0.008 - 0.776 not reported (continued) -J
TABLE 1 (continued) ....Cl>
00

Reference Year System d 1 Liquid rate Gas rate Comments

(em) (em) (1 min-I) (1 min-I)

Vivian and Peaceman [21] 1956 CO 2/air desorption 2.54 1.9·4.3 0.056·0.798 0·40.7
McCarter and Stutzman [22] 1959 various liquids/air; 7.5 35.6 - 101.6 not reported 19 - 2000 end effects minimised
vaporisation
Haselden and Malaty [23] 1959 NH 3/water 1.27 119 0.015·0.18 not reported rippling studies
Kafesjian et al. [24] 1961 humidification 2.54 101.6 0.036 - 1.31 37·200
Vivian and Behrmann [25] 1965 NH 3/water, NH3 2.77 5.56 not reported not reported
solutions
Vivian and Schoenberg [26] 1968 humidification 2.54 10 0.439 55.5 - 110
Cunningham [27] 1971 humidification 4.04 220 - 410 0.5·1.9 50·400
Cain [28] 1972 humidification 4.04 170·350 0.664,0.419 60·370
Lamourelle and Sandall [29] 1972 He, H 30 2 , CO 2 / 1.588 91.4 - 182.9 not reported 15·96
water
Jones [30] 1975 humidification 4.04 72.3·353.8 0.19·0.92 72 - 354
Hikita and Ishimi [31] 1976 NH 3/H 2S0 4 , 2· 4.1 40,80 0.19 - 0.56 3 - 30
methanol/water
Goodfellow and co-workers 1976, humidification 3.99
152.4 0.3· 2.3 60 - 480
[32,33] 1977 7.79
Hikita and Ishimi [34] 1978 NH 3/H 2S0 4 , 2 40,80 0.19·0.56 3·30 Sh, Gr and interfacial
methanol/water velocity gives data
correlation

approximately equal to the thickness of the
film, but to obtain a continuous film initially
the gap had to be closed and then reset when
the film was obtained. A valve controlled the
water level at the base of the tower so that it
was kept below the top end of the gas inlet
tube.
Air was taken from the compressed air line,
through a filter, a pressure regulator and a
control valve before being measured by cali-
brated rotameters capable of delivering 0 -
7.5 X 10e3 m3 sl. For flow rates of less than
1.5 X 10d3 m3 s-l the air was passed from the
control valve through a 30 1 stainless steel
drum which dampened out any fluctuations
in the flow before it reached the rotameter.
The air passed to an air heater consisting of a
35 cm length of ceramic core wound with
Nichrome wire to give about 1 kW of heating.
A combination of an on-off controller and
d.c. voltage supply to the heater provided
control over the air temperature to the
column. To minimise heat losses the whole
column was insulated with 2.5 cm fibreglass
insulation. Even so it took about an hour for
the apparatus to settle to a given set of condi-
tions.
The preheated air passed to a calming
section set in the base of the apparatus. It
consisted of a centrally placed 150 cm length
of tube of 2.5 cm bore, designed so as to
eliminate entrance effects.
Monometers were connected to the air
rotameter, to the air inlet tube and just above
the wetted section of the column.
The mass transfer rate was found by mea-
suring the humidities of the inlet and outlet
air. The inlet air was sampled at a point
between the reducing valve and the control
valve. The outlet air was sampled in a by-pass
system after the air left the tower. The
humidities were measured using wet and dry
bulb thermometers. These were placed in
holders (see Fig. 3) such that the velocity
past the wet bulb was about 5 m s-l which
occurred when the flow in the by-pass system
was adjusted to approximately 1 X 10e3 m3
min-‘.
To measure the inlet water temperature a
thermometer was inserted through the side of
the water distributor body at the level of the
weir.
All other temperatures were read using
copper-constantan thermocouples. The inlet
169
BAFFLES ENSURING
5MC? FLOW PAST
WET BULB
Fig. 3. Wet bulb thermometer holder.
air temperature was measured with a thermo-
couple inserted up the air inlet tube to 3 cm
from the top. Outlet air temperature was mea-
sured using a thermocouple in the centre of
the upper calming section, 2 cm above the
weir. The most difficult temperature to
measure was that of the outlet water. As the
water left the transfer section it continued as
a film on the tube wall for 40 cm down to the
water level. The temperature had to be read
just as the water left the transfer section;
therefore a thin thermocouple was inserted
from the base of the tower so that the junc-
tion was in the film. Radiation effects were
accounted for by using shields [ 351, by insu-
lating the column and also by allowing the
column to reach steady state before readings
were taken. The last technique should have
allowed the column wall and the gas temper-
atures to equalise and gave rise to no heat
transfer by radiation. Sufficient thermocouple
wire (usually more than 10 cm), was inserted
into the column to minimise problems that
might have arisen due to heat conduction
along the wire.
The thermocouples were read using a
potentiometer with an ice bath as compensa-
tion and were calibrated using ice, boiling
water and warmed air. For the last of these,
the thermocouple for calibration was placed
in the wet bulb position of one of the ther-
mometer holders. A standardised thermom-
eter calibrated to 0.01 “C was then placed in
the dry bulb position and air at various tem-
peratures blown past at velocities of about
20 m s-l.
The thermocouples required frequent recal-
ibration and although initially they were used
for all temperature measurements they were
subsequently replaced by thermometers
where possible. When the thermocouples were
170

used for wet bulb measurements it was found or

that heat conduction occurred towards the ~KGPT
thermocouple tip from the wire outside the d(G,y) = 7 (Y, -Y) do (11)
holder which was at atmospheric temperature.
This raised the temperature at the tip and For a wetted-wall column
gave high readings. The problem only could
dA = rd dl (12)
be overcome by cooling the first 10 cm of
wire to close to the wet bulb temperature. Therefore
The procedure was difficult to implement
and led to the use of thermometers where d(G,y) = y(ye-y) dl (13)
possible on the apparatus.
It was found to be unnecessary to make but
sure that the water temperature in the wet ‘G
bulb reservoir was close to the wet bulb tem- G,= 2 (14)
perature. Sufficient cooling of the wick I-Y
occurred before the water reached the bulb of or
the thermometer, if the water level in the
reservoir was more than 3 cm below the bulb.
(15)
For the adiabatic experiments the tempera-
ture was also measured in the water distribu-
tor. It was found to be of importance to but ‘G, is constant. Hence
ensure that a complete film was formed on ‘G
the inside of the tube and that stripping did d(G,y) = (1 _;)? dy (16)
not occur during a run. This was particularly
true for high temperature runs. Substitution gives
Each run was repeated four times to ensure lG,,,d dy
that the results were reproducible and not (17)
subject to experimental error. d’ = 4KoPr(I - Y)2(Y, -Y)
Results were calculated using the following Assuming KG and P, are constant
data: viscosity of water [36], viscosity of air ‘G,d dY
and latent heat of water vaporisation [37], dl= -
specific heat of air [ 381, thermal conductivity 4&P, (I -Y)~(Y, -Y)
of air and the saturation vapour pressure of or
water [39], surface velocity of water and film
thickness [40], while the partial pressure of ‘G,d ” YBM
I= dY (IS)
the incoming and outgoing air was found ~KGPTYBM
s
y, (1 -Yj2(Y, -Y)
using the Ferrel equation [ 351 together with
the Swennson constant [ 411. Since the partial This equation is very similar to that found
pressures of these two air streams were mea- for packed columns [42]. In gas absorption
sured at atmospheric pressure a correction ye can be expressed as a function of y using a
had to be applied to bring them to column form of Henry’s Law. Unfortunately, for the
conditions. humidification case, ye is dependent on the
water temperature which is a function of heat
3. THEORY changes due to vaporization, conduction
through the walls and many other effects.
The overall rate of transfer through a gas
Hence no relationship can be written for ye
film is
in terms of y.
NA = KG@e -P) (8) The only meaningful case in which eqn.
(18) can be integrated is when ye is constant.
In terms of mole fractions
Hence
NA = KGp&e -Y) (9)
Y2

=
7x1~ d(G,y)

4dA
(10)
N OG =
s
Y,
(1 -Y12(Ye
YBM

-Y)
dY (19)
 171

Using the Wiegand [ 431 approximation various heights within the column. This is not
easily done with the wetted-wall column and
1 1 l-y * the humidity can only be measured at the top
N OG= In -
-
; + U-Ye) i Ye-Yi \t I and bottom of the column. Therefore, in
1 2(1 -Y)
order to examine the possibility of a height
and by letting effect experiments had to be carried out using
various heights of column but under the same
conditions of gas and liquid flow. Practical
(20) considerations dictated the possible range of
column heights to be used. Small amounts of
d4 humidification occurred when the column
-
dl
=KGYBM
was short and saturated or near saturated
conditions occurred when the column was
where long. For these reasons, column lengths
between 0.723 and 3.538 m were used. Even
‘G,d 1
- - so, a few of the experimental results at 3.538
4=
@T 2u -Y) m had to be discarded because saturation had
occurred or was close to occurring, and the

+
1
(l-Ye)
and the slope of the 4 us. 1 plot will be depen-
dent only on KoyBM.
4. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
EXPERIMENTS
Wetted-wall columns have been used exten-
sively as a simple tool for studying aspects of
heat and mass transfer, where the liquid flow
characteristics in particular could be easily
described. Spedding et al. [ 421 have proposed
that the height effect in a packed column is
due to the liquid flow characteristics over the
packing. In a wetted-wall column the liquid
flow pattern should not change with height
but it would be interesting to ascertain
whether a height effect does exist and also to
measure the end effect.
The concept of a simple system does not
apply when the basic mass transfer equation is
integrated. However eqn. (20) can be devel-
oped on the basis of certain reasonable
assumptions. To use the equation the air
entering the column must be heated to a
temperature such that the heat lost by the air
exactly balances the latent heat of vaporiza-
tion that occurs during the humidification
process. This means that the water tempera-
ture and the equilibrium partial pressure
remain constant.
In packed column experiments the gas
phase mole fraction can be measured at
driving force could not be determined accu-
rately.
No attempt was made to eliminate rippling
(22) in the column and indeed the shortest height
of tower employed ensured that rippling
occurred. Very short columns have been used
in the past to eliminate rippling but the
lengths employed were well below the mini-
AND PRELIMINARY
mum height used in this work. Nevertheless,
in order to investigate whether or not the
degree of rippling affected the mass transfer,
the weir gap at the top of the column was
closed to less than the final film thickness.
The pressure in the distributor forced the
water out of the gap so that it continued
down the column for 2 - 3 cm as a high speed
thin film. A hydraulic jump effect then took
place which caused the onset of intense
rippling for a few centimetres further before
the normal appearance of the film occurred.
No variation could be found between experi-
ments with normal and forced rippling.
Indeed, all attempts that were made to elimi-
nate rippling failed. Experiments were run
with varying amounts of surfactant (1 - 80
ppm) but again no difference was detected
between these results and those under normal
circumstances.
When the water temperature is held con-
stant throughout the column, the heat lost by
the air is used to vaporise the water, thus
enabling the heat transfer coefficient during
simultaneous heat and mass transfer to be
found. Most investigators have used the tech-
nique of adjusting the water inlet temperature
to the wet bulb temperature of the exit air so
172
that the water was being vaporised at the
wet bulb temperature and the water tempera-
ture would not change. Trial experiments
showed it to be more difficult to vary the
water temperature to keep it at the wet bulb
temperature, than to use a heated inlet air
system to maintain constant water tempera-
ture. This was probably due to the long
columns and the particular equipment layout
used in this work.
A series of experiments were run at room
temperature and at a temperature above 40 “C!
to test the equipment and to check whether
the mass transfer coefficient was in any way
dependent on the inlet gas temperature. Again
there was no difference between the results
at an elevated air inlet temperature of about
51 “C and those under normal atmospheric
operation.
5. MASS TRANSFER RESULTS
A set of experiments were run under con-
stant water temperature conditions at two gas
and water rates and at each tower height.
There was some imbalance in the heat, the
worst case involving 3.5% greater heat loss by
the air to that used for humidification. A atures was often as low as 3 “C and thus any
graph of @Jus. column height is given in Fig. 4
for the four combinations of air and liquid
rates.
If the mass transfer coefficient Kay,, is
GAS 3.2 x llJ3,3s-’ LIQUID
II I, I,
n ,, x
0 I
TOWER HEIGHT
Fig. 4. Wetted-wall column: @ us. height of tower.
constant, the line joining the points at any
specific pair of gas and liquid rates should be
straight and intersect the $ = 0 line at a dis-
tance from the inlet point equal to the end
effect.
The lines on Fig. 4 approximate two
straight lines for each data set. Below a tower
height of about 2.4 m, a straight line can be
drawn which passes through @ = 0 at an aver-
age position of -5 cm. The two plots at a
water flow of 7 X 1O-6 m s-l, intersect at
about -4 cm while the two at a flow of
1.1 X 10e5 m sP1 intersect at about -6 cm,
but it is not possible to conclude from just
four data sets that the liquid rate influences
the end effect.
Above 2.40 m a further series of straight
lines is found, of about 5% lower slope in each
case. However it is not possible to conclude
from the four sets of results that the mass
transfer coefficient decreased owing to a
height effect. It is far more likely that the
apparent decrease in mass transfer coefficient
is attributable to increased inaccuracy in mea-
suring the driving force at the top of the col-
umn. For example at 3.538 m of column the
difference between wet and dry bulb temper-
error would be magnified as the gas came
closer to saturation and the temperature dif-
ference decreased. Indeed, under these condi-
tions it is important not to round off figures
during calculation if large errors in @ are to be
avoided.
,x 1&,,3s-1 -a- - The apparent drop in mass transfer coeffi-
l+stj5 ” -
7x,@ 0 --o- - cient could not have been caused by a concen-
tration effect of water in the air of the type
1-1x1f5 ” -
reported by Cairns and Roper [ 4, 51, since
the ratio PBM/PT was within 3% of unity.
Similarly the apparent change cannot have
been caused by any error in using the Wiegand
[43] approximation, since YBM would be close
to unity however it was calculated.
The end effect is small and if real could be
caused by increased turbulence in the air
stream at the point of entry into the column.
However, Harte and Baker [44] used a similar
column design in their investigation and did
not report any end effect. The negative sign
for the end effect means that the effective
column length was greater than the actual
2 3 i
inlet-to-outlet distance, or leffective = I- lend.
r,, All of the d/x and hhd/hh values obtained are
corrected by multiplying by 1/2effective.

When the data are expressed in the d/x
form there is a gradual increase in the param-
eter with water flow rate for any given
Reynolds number. This is in direct conflict
with the conclusions of Gilliland and Sher-
wood [l] who found that the water rate had
no effect on the mass transfer. When they
plotted the mass transfer coefficient against
the Reynolds number relative to the liquid
velocity, a wide divergence of results was
found, especially between counter-current
and co-current experiments. When the results
of the present work are plotted against the
Reynolds number relative to the liquid film
(in the range 3000 - 20 000) there is no sig-
nificant difference between the data at vari-
ous water rates. Hence, by least-squares fit
d coefficient was several times that predicted
- = 0.016 + 0.002Re2*83’ O.O1’ (23)
X
An average for all data gives a Schmidt num-
ber of 0.594. If the exponent on this number
is 0.44 [l] then
d
- = 0.020Re,0.83Sc0.44 (24)
X determine accurately the end effect.
It must be stressed that this equation uses
the air velocity relative to the water film,
calculated using the equation of Danckwerts
[ 401. It is probable that the actual velocity of
the water surface in our experiments was less
than this. For example the ripples in the col-
umn were observed to travel at 50% - 60% of
the predicted velocity. Morris and Jackson
[45] found that the effective liquid surface
velocity was 70% of the calculated velocity,
assuming streamline flow in the liquid film.
For purposes of comparison, the data of
Gilliland and Sherwood [l] for Reynolds
numbers relative to the water film were corre-
lated by least-squares fit to give
d
- = 0.0197Re,0*84Sc0.44 (25)
X
which was 9% higher than predictions based
on eqn. (24) at the lower value of the
Reynolds number range and 11.8% higher at
the higher value of the range. Certainly the
agreement is close and is better than when the
correlation is attempted in the manner sug-
gested by the original authors.
The results of the present work agree
closely with those of Van Krevelen and Hof-
tyzer [46], Pratt [47], Morris and Jackson
173
[45] and McCarter and Stutzman [22] when
the end effect is incorporated into the calcula-
tions and using the Reynolds number relative
to the water film. The values of the Chilton-
Colburn j-factors agree (within f 20%) with
the results of the investigators mentioned
above, and with those of Barnett and Kobe
r31.
The data obtained from this investigation
do not agree with those of Grimley [48] or
Emmert and Pigford [49] who found elevated
rates of absorption when using very short
columns and rippling films. A study of the
apparatus they describe does not show that
any obvious end effect was occurring, but an
end effect could explain the increase in rate.
Greenwalt [ll] found that the mass transfer
by Gilliland and Sherwood [ 11. This could be
partly caused by rippling but is mainly due to
an end effect. It is imperative, especially when
using short columns, that extreme care is
taken in designing the ends of the equipment
in order to minimise end effects, and if such a
precedure is not possible it is necessary to
6. HEAT TRANSFER RESULTS
A relationship in terms of heat transfer can
also be obtained using similar reasoning to
that for mass transfer. Since the water tem-
perature is constant and it is assumed that no
heat losses occur
nd2
Q dA = ‘G,C, dTa4M (26)
and using the transfer equation described by
Gilliland [ 501
Q = h,(T - T,) (27)
Equations (26) and (27) can be combined and
the first two terms of the equation for C,
substituted to give, on integration
l/z,, = & = 0.0020’G,d{998.5500 ln(T - T,)
+ 0.1431T + O.l431T, ln(T - T,)}Fni& r
(28)
The results for constant water temperature
were used to calculate & and these are
plotted in Fig. 5. By extrapolating to (bh = 0,
174
100S----l--- I 0
GAS LIQUID
3.1 x 18 m351 7x\gdm%-
,, II 1.1x165 I,
4.7 x 183 ” 7x,(j6 14
t, l.lXlcj5 ” -
60-1
-1
TOWER HEIGHT
Fig. 5. Wetted-wall column:
the end effect on a heat transfer basis can be
obtained. The results show that no end effect
occurred (cf. the value of -5 cm obtained on
a mass basis). No specific reason can be given
for this, but it is unlikely to be an experi-
mental error since the AQ values found were
usually very close to zero. There should be no
reason for the discrepancy, especially since
the heat and mass transfer coefficients were in
excellent agreement. The method of plotting
the results (actually obtained using columns
of various lengths) as though they were
obtained from within one long column is very
prone to error. These errors were discussed by
Haselden and Malaty [23], who also found
that any errors due to rippling were not
directly applicable to heat transfer. For direct
comparison of various column lengths they
found it was necessary to adjust results for
water temperature and column pressure
changes at the various heights. This was not
possible with the results presented above, and
may be a reason for the apparent end effect
difference between the heat and mass transfer
bases.
One problem which exists when eqn. (6) is
used to calculate heat and mass transfer coef-
ficients is that a logarithmic mean value has
to be used. This can lead to errors but has
usually been assumed sufficiently accurate for
adiabatic humidification of air. The integrated
forms of the basic mass transfer equation
1
I which were used in this investigation (eqns.
--x-- (20) and (28)) do not rely on a logarithmic
-
-__d__ value. Both use point values at the top and
bottom of the column. The mass transfer
version does require the use of the Wiegand
approximation, but this has already been
shown to be very accurate for the YBM values
used [ 421. Hence, using eqns. (20) and (28),
transfer coefficients can be obtained and com-
pared with that found using eqn. (6). This has
been done and in all cases the coefficients
were within 5% of each other. There was no
consistent variation, so it may be concluded
that for the experiments in this investigation
the use of a logarithmic mean value is suffi-
ciently accurate.
t
7. CONCLUSIONS
m
& us. height of tower.
Mass transfer results were obtained for the
humidification of air, using a 4.04 cm diam-
eter glass wetted-wall column. Experiments
were made at column lengths from 0.72 to
3.54 m, at air rates from 1 to 6.3 X 10e3 m3
s-l and at water rates from 3 to 15.3 X 10e6
m3 SC’. The design of the apparatus was such
as to minimise any end effects. Most of the
experiments were carried out at atmospheric
temperature but some were performed at
elevated temperatures under adiabatic and
non-adiabatic conditions. Rippling could not
be eliminated in the lengths of column used.
By plotting the values of the integrated mass
transfer coefficient under adiabatic conditions
against column length, an average end effect
of -5 cm was obtained. The system was not
as versatile as in the packed tower, since
sampling could only be performed at the top
and bottom of the column.
The data from all the experiments, after
incorporating the end effect, could only be
correlated by a single equation if the
Reynolds number of the air relative to the
liquid film were used. The correlation was
d
- = 0.016 f 0.002Re,0*83* 0.0i5 (23)
X
and was found to agree well with most of the
investigations previously reported, provided
that the data used for comparative purposes
were also relative to the liquid film,
It was not possible to establish whether a
height effect occurred in our experiments;
 175

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1 conditions at base of column
2 conditions at top of column
a air
APPENDIX A: NOMENCLATURE
BM logarithmic mean value of inert
A interfacial area for mass transfer (m) equilibrium value
CP specific heat (J kg-’ K-‘) : gas phase
d column internal diameter (m) i interfacial value
D diffusivity (m2 s-l) L liquid phase
G, total molar gas rate (kg mol s-l me2) T total