Falling film evaporation of binary mixtures

Falling film evaporators are being used increasingly in the chemical process industries for multicomponent mixtures. Experimental data for the heat transfer characteristics are lacking, especially for wide-boiling-range mixtures. This study obtained experimental measurements of heat and mass transfer for a binary mixture evaporating in downflow in a heated vertical tube. Local heat fluxes, wall temperatures, and bulk fluid temperatures were measured for ranges of film flow rate and fluid composition. Boiling ranges of up to 55 C were investigated, using several mixtures of ethylene glycol and water. The tests were run at atmospheric pressure, with heat fluxes ranging from 3000 to 25000 W/m/sup 2/, and film Reynolds numbers of 300 to 3000. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient for the mixtures is a weak function of wall superheat, tube length, and film Reynolds number, but a very strong function of mixture composition. A preliminary analysis indicates the presence of a significant mass transfer resistance, contrary to earlier speculations.