Comparative numerical study of single and two-phase models of nanofluid liquid film evaporation in a vertical channel

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to survey numerically comparison of two-phase and single-phase models of heat and mass transfer of Al2O3-water nanofluid liquid film flowing downward a vertical channel. A finite difference method is developed to produce the computational predictions for heat and mass transfer during the evaporation of the liquid film approached by the single-phase and two-phase models. The model solves the coupled governing equations in both nanofluid and gas phases together with the boundary and interfacial conditions. The systems of equations obtained by using an implicit finite difference method are solved by Tridiagonal Matrix Algorithm. The results show that the two-phase model is more realistic since it takes into account the thermophoresis and Brownian effects.