Hydrodynamics and mechanism of hydrophobic foam column tray: Contact angle hysteresis effect

Peng Yan, Xingang Li, Hong Li, Yuanyuan Shao, Hui Zhang, Xin Gao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Interfacial wettability adjustment is a new method for intensifying vapor–liquid mass transfer process. Contact angle effect has been well investigated but not complete due to interfacial wettability consisting of both static behavior (contact angle) and dynamic behavior (contact angle hysteresis). Here, methods of adjusting contact angle hysteresis (CAH) were proposed, and then, the CAH effect on the hydrodynamics was investigated. A multiscale analysis of CAH effect, from interfacial force and wettability to single-bubble and gas–liquid two-phase flow inside the foam to bubble swarm hydrodynamics, was conducted, and thus, the hydrodynamic performance criteria were derived. The interfaces had similar contact angles, whereas a significant difference in the CAH was prepared by using the developed sol dip-coating and spray coating methods. Subsequent experiments revealed that lower CAH can decrease the pressure drop, homogenize the gas distribution, and increase the weeping rate, which are consistent with the derived criteria.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere16793
Number of pages11
JournalAIChE Journal
Volume66
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • contact angle hysteresis
  • distillation
  • foam
  • gas–liquid contacting
  • process intensification

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