Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.38, No.1, 23-32, 2015
Spatial Scale Effects on Rayleigh Convection and Interfacial Mass Transfer Characteristics in CO2 Absorption
Concentration gradient-induced Rayleigh convections in the CO2 absorption process were investigated by the hybrid Lattice-Boltzmann/finite-difference method (LBM-FDM). The spatial scale effects on Rayleigh convection were studied by simulating Rayleigh convections with different liquid layers. The scale of convection increased with the liquid layer height but the average mass transfer coefficient showed the adverse tendency. The Rayleigh convection had a pronounced effect on the surface renewal. For better assessment of the renewal intensity, two statistical quantities were proposed. The transient variations of these quantities provided a good following feature with the mass transfer coefficient which confirms their accuracy and precision in characterizing the mass transfer process.