Fluid dynamics and diffusion calculations for laminar liquid jets

Abstract

Abstract In connection with a study of the mechanism of gas absorption the problem arose of predicting absorption rates into laminar liquid jets. A solution to the problem is presented in this paper, which provides an example of the application of fluid dynamics to the analysis of mass transfer in a complex flow system. The water jets considered here issued from circular nozzles of about 1.5‐mm diameter, flowed intact downward through an atmosphere of solute gas at average velocities of from 75 to 550 cm./sec. over distances of 1 to 15 cm., and were collected in a receiver slightly larger in diameter than the nozzles. Equations describing the liquid flow near the jet surface are deduced from measurements of jet diameter and analogy to related flow situations. When one uses these equations, absorption rates are predicted from unsteady state diffusion theory with the assumption of interfacial equilibrium. The predicted rates for carbon dioxide at 25°C are in close agreement with experimental determinations over the observed range of contact time of the liquid with gas, namely 0.003 to 0.04 sec.