Intensification of the rate of heat and mass transfer in a batch and continuous parallel plate contactor by pulsed flow

Abstract The effect of pulsating flow on the rate of mass transfer in a parallel plate reactor was studied by the electrochemical technique. For batch reactor, pulsating flow increased the rate of mass transfer compared to natural convection by a factor ranging from 1.05 to 2.43. A mathematical model was developed to prove that surface renewal plays a major role in enhancing the rate of mass transfer at high pulsation velocities. The combination of steady flow and pulsating flow increased the rate of mass transfer by a factor ranging from 9 to 17 under steady laminar flow and from 3 to 4 in case of turbulent steady flow. Mass transfer data were correlated for batch and continuous reactors by dimensionless correlations. Applications of the present correlations in the design and operation of parallel plate contactors such as electrochemical reactors, heat exchangers, catalytic reactors, and membrane equipment were discussed.