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Procedia Engineering 00 (2017) 000–000
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Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 1500–1506

10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, ISHVAC2017, 19-
22 October 2017, Jinan, China

Numerical Simulation Research of Horizontal Single-Tube Falling

Film Evaporation
Xiaolong Wanga,*, Tianjiao Huaib, Yihui Lic
aaSchool of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, China 250101

State Nuclear Electric Power Planning Design&Research Institute Co.Ltd, Beijing, China 100095
bb

cc
The second construction limited company of China construction eighth engineering division, Jinan, China 250101

Abstract

The falling film evaporation technology is widely used in desalination, food processing, petrochemical, and other fields because
of its high heat transfer efficiency, small temperature difference, small amount of liquid injection, etc. The film thickness and
flow field are studied by numerical simulation and the study is focus on liquid film thickness and the velocity field.
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
© 2017 The Authors.
Peer-review Published by
under responsibility of Elsevier Ltd. committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air
the scientific
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Conditioning.
Air Conditioning.
Keywords: Falling film evaporation; Horizontal single-tube; numerical simulation

1. Introduction

The horizontal tube falling film evaporator has been patented in 1888. It has the advantage of small temperature
difference, high heat transfer efficiency, low temperature heat transfer, etc. This technology is widely used in
desalination, food processing, refrigeration engineering, oil refining, chemical engineering and other fields. At home
and abroad, the research on horizontal tube falling film evaporation can be divided into three parts. Some study the
influence of temperature difference and spraying volume on heat transfer performance of falling film evaporation[2-
3]. Some study on strengthening and optimizing heat transfer performance of horizontal tube falling film
evaporation[4-5]. Some study on the heat transfer mechanism in liquid film of horizontal tube falling film
evaporator[6-7].

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-158-2191-6787.

E-mail address: 5326625@163.com

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.

1877-7058 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 10th International Symposium on Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning.
10.1016/j.proeng.2017.10.379
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Predecessors researched the heat transfer mechanism of falling film evaporator based on experiments. In the
falling film process, the liquid film thickness is in millimeter. This brings some difficulties to experiment
measurement. And the experimental cost is very high. In this paper, we used ANSYS FLUENT software, VOF
model and evaporation-condensation model to simulate and analyze the heat transfer problem in falling film
evaporation process.

Nomenclature

α the volume fraction

ρ density，kg/m3
v speed, m/s
mpq the mass transfer of p-phase to q-phase
mqp the mass transfer of q-phase to p-phase
coff relaxation time
T temperature, ℃
sat saturated state
n the phase
μ the viscosity coefficient
F the volume force
g the gravity acceleration
S the source item

2. Models

2.1 Physical model

This paper studies the horizontal tube falling film evaporation process. Inside the tube is a steam condensation
process. Outside the tube is a liquid falling film evaporation process. The liquid flows from the dispenser, falls on
the surface of tube wall at the action of gravity, and then form a uniform liquid film on the surface of the tube wall.
When the liquid touches the wall of the tube, there is a temperature difference between the liquid and the wall. So
heat transfer occurs. The initial liquid temperature is lower than the saturated evaporation temperature
corresponding to internal pressure. So, at the beginning, sensible heat exchange occurs between the tube wall and
the liquid film. When the liquid film temperature reaches the saturated evaporation temperature, the liquid film
begins to evaporate. At this time, latent heat exchange also occurs.
We chose two-dimensional symmetric model in this paper. The liquid enters from the inlet, then it spreads around
the circumference at the action of gravity and forms a liquid film. Finally the two liquid films converge at the lower
part of tube and flows out from underneath. Because the two sides of the wall are symmetrical, we can establish a
two-dimensional symmetric model by taking the central line of the vertical axis as the symmetrical boundary. The
heat exchange occurs between the liquid film and the wall of the tube under the action of temperature difference.
The liquid film temperature did not reach the saturation temperature. What happens at this time is sensible heat
exchange. When the liquid film temperature reaches the saturation temperature, sensible heat exchange and latent
heat exchange will occur.
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Fig. 2. The researched model

2.2 Mathematical model

In vacuum, the horizontal single-tube falling film evaporation is a heat and mass transfer problem in gas-liquid
two-phase flow. We set up a mathematical model based on this characteristic. As mentioned above, the falling film
evaporation process of the horizontal tube is a gas-liquid two-phase flow process. We use the VOF multiphase flow
model.
In the VOF model, the tracking phase interface is accomplished by solving a continuous equation of the volume
fraction of one or more phases.For the q-th phase, the equation is:
∂  n
(α q ρ q ) + ∇ ⋅ (α q ρ q vq ) = Sα q +  ( m pq − m qp ) (1)
∂t p =1

In the formula: α is the volume fraction； ρ is density (kg/m3)； v is speed (m/s)；p is the vapor phase; q is the
liquid phase； m pq represents the mass transfer of p-phase to q-phase; m qp represents the mass transfer of q-phase to
p-phase. This paper subject is the falling film evaporation mass transfer process outside the tube, so m pq = 0 . m qp
are defined by evaporation-condensation model. We default that the source phase on the right side of the equation is
0. According to evaporation condensation model：
Tq − Tsat
m qp = coeff × α q ρ q (2)
Tsat
In the formula: coeff is relaxation time and value 0.1. T is temperature(0C). Subscript(sat) represents saturated state.
The calculation of the main phase volume fraction is based on the following constraints.
n

α
q =1
q =1 (3)

In the formula, n represents the phase.

The physical property of the transport equation is determined by split-phase in the control volume. In the two-
phase flow, we used the subscripts 1 and 2 to represent the phase. If the volume fraction of the second phase is
traced, the density and viscosity of each control volume unit are given by the following formula:
ρ = α p ρ p + α q ρq (4)
μ = α p μ p + α q μq (5)
In the formula： μ is the viscosity coefficient( p a ⋅ s ).
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3. Discretization and calculation method

3.1 Discretization

Mesh generation is the first step in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The process of mesh generation is the
process of calculating regional discretization. The discretization is to divide the continuous computing domain into
many sub-regions, and to determine the nodes of each region. We transform the partial differential equations
describing flow and heat transfer into algebraic equations on each node. The essence of the division grid is to use a
limited number of discrete points to replace the continuous space. Mesh generation is an important part of numerical
simulation.
Considering the main contents of this study and the characteristics of the horizontal tube structure, we use
structured grid to divide the calculation area. The number of grids is 55878, as shown in figure 2.

Fig. 2. The mesh generation of model

3.2 Calculation method

The essence of flow field calculation is to solve discrete equations. The solving method includes the coupling
method and the separation method. In this paper, we use pressure-velocity coupling PISO algorithm to calculate the
discrete mathematical model.

4. Model verification

In order to verify the accuracy of the model and calculation method, we first do the numerical simulation of
horizontal single tube falling film evaporation under different spray density and heat transfer temperature difference.
The simulation results is shown in figure 3 and figure 4.
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Fig. 3. Heat transfer coefficient with different spray density Fig. 4. Heat transfer coefficient with different heat transfer
temperature difference

As we can see from Figure 3, with the increase of spray density, the heat transfer coefficient of outside tube
increases linearly. The spray density increases from 0.2kg/(m·s) to 0.8kg/(m·s). The heat transfer coefficient of
liquid film outside the tube increases from 19509.02w/(m2·K) to 35674.10w/(m2·K). It increases by 82%.
Spray density increases. The flow velocity of liquid film outside the tube increases. Liquid turbulence increases.
These changes are favorable for heat transfer. So the heat transfer coefficient increases. This also let liquid film to
reach saturation temperatures faster. The evaporation area becomes larger.
As we can see from Figure 4, with the increase of heat transfer temperature difference, the average heat transfer
coefficient of the liquid film outside the tube increases. When the heat transfer temperature difference rises from 5℃
to 20 ℃ , the average heat transfer coefficient of the outer liquid film changes from 18014.86w/(m2·K) to
35674.10w/(m2·K). It increases by 98%. This is because the temperature difference is the driving force of heat
exchange inside and outside the tube. in the case of constant evaporation temperature, the increase of temperature
difference means that the wall temperature increases. The superheat of the tube wall is improved, which is beneficial
to evaporation. Heat transfer coefficient increases. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the
experimental results of liangpo Du[9]. The difference is within 15%. This shows that the established numerical
model is accurate and reliable.

5. Results

The spray density is 0.4 kg/(m·s). The evaporation temperature is 80℃. When the wall temperature is 85℃, we
numerically simulate the heat and mass transfer in horizontal tube falling film evaporation.

5.1 Velocity field simulation

As can be seen from figure 5, the Initial velocity of the liquid is very low in the X-direction, almost zero.
 Xiaolong Wang et al. / Procedia Engineering 205 (2017) 1500–1506 1505
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Fig. 5. The flow velocity in X direction Fig. 6. The flow velocity in Y direction

After touching the tube wall, the speed of liquid film reaches 0.32m/s quickly. After flowing past 70°, the
velocity in the X-direction begins to decrease. Until 90°, the velocity in the X-direction decreases to zero. after 90°,
in the range of 90°-115°, the speed of liquid film begins to increase in the X-direction. In the range of 115°-175°, the
liquid maintains high speed in the X-direction. In the range of 175°-180°, the velocity in the X-direction is quickly
reduced to zero.
As we can see in figure 6, when the liquid enters, the velocity in the Y-direction increases continuously under the
action of gravity. When the liquid touches the tube wall, the velocity in Y-direction is reduced to zero. And then the
velocity of in Y-direction begins to increase under the action of gravity and wall shear force. Around 90°, the
velocity of the liquid film in Y-direction reaches the maximum. After 90°, the velocity of liquid film in Y-direction
begins to decrease. When the liquid film flows near 180°, the velocity is reduced to zero. Then under the action of
gravity, the liquid velocity in the Y-direction is continuous growing.

5.2 Liquid film thickness

As we can see from figure 7, at the beginning, the liquid collides the tube wall. Liquid film is accumulated. So
the thickness of liquid film is thicker. In the range of 5°-30°, the liquid film spreads over the surface of tube wall.
The thickness of liquid film is gradually thinned. And the reduction is large. In the range of 30°-90°, the thickness of
the liquid film decreases slowly due to the gravity and the shearing force of tube wall. At 90°, the liquid film
thickness reaches the minimum.

Fig. 7. The change rule of film thickness with circumferential angle.

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In the range of 90°-155°, the thickness of the liquid film increases slightly. In the range of 155°-180°, the liquid
film on two sides is merging and impacting each other. And the liquid film detaches from the pipe wall. Within this
range, the liquid film appears to pile up. The thickness of liquid film increases rapidly. Therefore, when the spray
density is 0.4 kg/(m·s), the evaporation temperature is 80℃, and the tube wall temperature is 85℃, the thinnest
position of horizontal single tube falling film evaporating liquid film appears at 90°.

6. Conclusions

• In the process of horizontal tube falling film evaporation, the heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase
of spray density and heat transfer temperature difference.
• The thinnest liquid film of single tube falling film evaporation is at 90°.

References

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[4] K.Bourouni, M.T.Chaibi, L. Tadrist. Analytical analysis of heat transfer in liquid film dripping around a horizontal tube. Desalination, 141
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[5] Li W, Wu X-Y, Luo Z, et al. Heat transfer characteristics of falling film evaporation on horizontal tube arrays. International Journal of Heat
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