Gas-liquid mass transfer in an internally finned monolith operated countercurrently in the film flow regime

Gas-liquid mass transfer has been determined in internally finned monoliths (IFM) by desorbing oxygen from a falling water film. Measurements were per formed for various monolith lengths to quantify the inlet effects caused, a mong others, by the development of the concentration profile. The local vol umetric mass transfer coefficients were found to vary from approximately 0. 04 (s(-1)) at the inlet to about 0.01 (s(-1)) in the downstream sections. A theoretical model has been derived, assuming that the water flow can be tr eated as a film falling down in a corner. By averaging the radial mass tran sfer perpendicular to the film surface, mass transfer can be predicted with in reasonable accuracy. On comparing the film in the IFM with a film along a vertical plane, it was found that in an IFM the concentration profile dev elops faster while mass transfer is less effective in the developed section s. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.