The Effect of Surfactant Vapor on Marangoni Convection in Absorption and Condensation

Title of dissertation: THE EFFECT OF SURFACTANT VAPOR ON MARANGONI CONVECTION IN ABSORPTION AND CONDENSATION Zhe Yuan, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Dr. Keith E. Herold, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering Mass and heat transfer enhancement by the addition of a class of surfactant additives is in common use in absorption machines based on aqueous lithium-bromide (LiBr). It is observed that the addition of on the order of 100 ppm of a surfactant such as 2-ethyl-hexanol (2EH) introduces Marangoni convection on the liquid surface and thereby enhances absorption and condensation rates. The Vapor Surfactant Theory (Kulankara and Herold, 2000) proposed that such Marangoni convection is driven by the surface tension gradient caused by surfactant that circulates through the machine and arrives at the liquid surfaces as a vapor by bulk flow along with water vapor. The objective of this work was to fully understand the vapor surfactant induced enhancement mechanism and to quantify the relationship between the enhancement and the key variables. This goal was achieved by conducting experimental and numerical analyses including the measurement of surface tension with surfactant 2EH in the vapor, determination of 2EH surface concentrations in aqueous LiBr and water, experimental study of Marangoni convection in an absorption and condensation pool with surfactant 2EH in the vapor and modeling of Marangoni convection in the presence of surfactant