NANOFLUID FILM FALLING ON A NON-DARCY POROUS VERTICAL PLATE EVAPORATOR

Abstract

A numerical analysis of the falling nanofilm evaporation on a vertical porous wetted wall by mixed convection was performed. The right-wall was dry and isothermal, while the left wall was embedded in a non-Darcy porous medium filled with nanofilm (water + low fraction volume of copper nanoparticles) and exposed to a uniform heat flux from the outside. The nanofluid film made up the liquid, while dry air and water vapor comprised the gas mixture. The results obtained from this study pertain to the impact of porosity, thickness of the porous layer, concentration of nanoparticles on heat and mass exchange, and liquid film evaporation. The results indicate that mass and heat exchange, as well as liquid film evaporation, are improved in the case of nanofilm by introducing a liquid-saturated porous medium. It is shown that in the case of a porous layer, the dispersion of the nanoparticles into water film ameliorates the liquid film evaporation of the plate evaporator and weakly improves the mass and heat exchange.