Investigation of the inlet useful temperature difference effect on the distribution of hydrodynamic characteristics of the vapor-liquid flow inside the falling-film evaporator heating tube designed for a nitric acid solutions evaporation

Abstract

Abstract We present the results of mathematical modeling of effect of inlet useful temperature difference on the vapor- liquid flow in the heat exchange tube of a vertical evaporating film apparatus, which is designed for evaporation of nitric acid solutions. Distributions obtained along the heat exchange tube length of local values of the: mass flow rate of the fluid and secondary steam, the velocity of the fluid film, the velocity of the secondary steam, the Reynolds criterion of the liquid and vapor phases, the absolute pressure depending on the values of this useful temperature difference. The study was carried out using numerical simulation. To study the effect of the initial useful temperature difference on the hydrodynamics of the vapor-liquid flow, the vertical evaporator equipped with the tube ø38x3 mm and length of L = 4 m was adopted. The linear nature of the distribution of hydrodynamic parameters along the length of the heat exchange tube is established. The absolute pressure in the tube space decreases along the heating tube due to pressure drop. The limiting factor in reducing the absolute pressure is the friction losses of the secondary vapor on the solution film surface. A decrease in the pressure in the tube space leads to decrease in the boiling point of the solution. This leads to increase useful temperature. This has a positive effect on the evaporation efficiency The obtained data should be used in the design of evaporation plants, which are designed for evaporation of nitric acid solutions.