ANALYSIS OF MASS-TRANSFER BETWEEN A SEQUENCE OF DROPS AND A SURROUNDING GAS

Mass transfer between a sequence of monodisperse droplets and a surrou nding gas is theoretically analyzed for two mass transfer processes: ( i) evaporation of:drops into a laminar gas how and (ii) the uptake of a soluble component from the flowing gas. The evaporation process is m odeled as a line (or rod) source of vapor located at the axis of the d roplet array, and the vapor concentration distribution in the gas phas e is obtained by numerically solving the convective diffusion equation . To model the uptake of trace gases, the equation of continuity is so lved for both the liquid and gas phases, and the fluxes are matched at the gas/liquid interface. A numerical solution is presented for the g as uptake by the drops which can be applied to interpret experimental data, and the analysis is applied to the absorption of HCl and SO2 by water droplets. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.