Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Sciences (JMES)

ISSN (Print): 2289-4659; e-ISSN: 2231-8380; Volume 1, pp. 124-132, December 2011
© Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pekan, Pahang, Malaysia
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15282/jmes.1.2011.11.0011

EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN A

PACKED BED

K.V. Suryanarayana1, G. Srinivasa Rao2, D.M. Reddy Prasad3, K.V. Sharma4 and
P.K. Sarma1
1
Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Venkateswara Engineering College,
Suryapet 508213, India, E-mail: kagita_surya@yahoo.com
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science,
Warangal 506015, India
3
Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Gambang,
Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
4
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Pahang
5
International Director, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam 530045, India

ABSTRACT

Experiments have been conducted to study the effect of mass flow rate on heat and mass
transfer coefficients in a packed bed. It has been observed that an increase in mass flow
rate of water increases the heat and mass transfer coefficients by 1.7–1.9 and 3.2–3.8
times, respectively, at 55–95 °C. The diffusion of oxygen from packed bed inlet water,
obtained from experimental data, can be used to estimate the mass transfer coefficients.
The theoretical equation available in literature is compared and satisfactory agreement
has been observed. The increase in inlet water temperature decreases both the heat and
mass transfer coefficients by 60% and 25%, respectively, because of the reduced driving
force. The increase in oxygen concentration in inlet water has no significant effect on
either heat or mass transfer coefficients.

Keywords: Packed bed; condensation heat transfer coefficients; diffusion mass transfer
coefficients; oxygen.

INTRODUCTION

Boiler feed water may contain significant amounts of dissolved oxygen, which causes
pitting and iron deposition. Packed beds are used to remove these dissolved and
corrosive gases from boiler makeup feed water. The makeup water and the condensate
are heated in the packed bed to remove oxygen before entry into the boiler, because
even small amounts of dissolved gas can cause significant corrosion (Satya Narayana,
Ramireddy, & Venkataramana, 2011; Syam Sundar, & Sharma, 2011). The high
temperature of boiler feed water, if left untreated, will increase further the corrosivity
due to dissolved oxygen. In the experimental packed bed, the incoming water falls on
the top of the bed. The length of the bed is 1.2 m and it is packed with 38-mm nominal
size pall rings made of nylon. The bed is engulfed with steam at a set pressure.
Experiments are conducted with different flow rates, pressures, and temperatures of
packed bed water.
Rabas, Inoue and Shimizu (1987) presented experimental data on mass transfer
coefficients of a counter-flow pall-ring packed bed. The authors have taken the data
from full-sized packed beds operating at desalination plants, and checked the mass
transfer performance of the two-inch pall-ring packing and spray nozzle distribution

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 Experimental Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in A Packed Bed

system. The effects of antifoam and the stripping steam flow rate on the effluent oxygen
concentration are not considered. Ferro, Ghiazza, Bosio and Costa (2002) observed that
oxygen concentration decreases with an increase in temperature of seawater at the inlet
of a packed bed. Costa, Ferro, Ghiazza and Bosio (2006) observed the performance of
oxygen stripping of a packed bed when the steam flow rate is low. They concluded the
maximum oxygen content in the outlet water to be 20–30 ppb, even in the absence of
steam. Studies of heat and mass transfer with non-condensable gas, such as oxygen,
being stripped from boiler feed water are quite limited. Hence, it is proposed to conduct
experiments to estimate the heat and mass transfer coefficients from a packed bed for
different mass flows rates and temperatures, and to assess its impact on oxygen
stripping from the boiler feed water.

FABRICATION OF THE EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The experimental setup consists of a 0.15-m diameter column and a 1.2-m long packed
bed. A 200-liter feed water storage tank, a steam jacket on the deaerator water inlet pipe
for regulating its temperature, and a pump for circulating water are other accessories . In
the steam circuit, a pressure regulator and steam trap are connected to a buffer tank for
removal of water droplets after steam expansion in the pressure regulator. A water bath
of 25-liter capacity with a copper coil to regulate the temperature of the sample water to
0–40 ºC is connected to a dissolved oxygen (DO) meter and a condenser for increasing
the temperature of inlet water (Sharma, Suryanarayana, Sarma, Rahman, Noor, &
Kadirgama, 2010). A schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in Figure 1.

Vent
Steam in
Top packing
retainer Condenser

Pall ring Condensate out

Packing
L
DLPR

Buffer Water
Tank Bottom Storage
Steam from packing Tank
PRDS retainer
Steam trap

Water outlet
Pump
DO Meter
Water inlet

Water Bath

DLPR: Dome Loaded Pressure Regulator; DO: Dissolved Oxygen Meter

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of packed bed experimental setup

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Estimation of Heat Transfer Coefficients

The energy balance equation for the packed bed can be estimated from the relation

QE  m C PL To  Ti  (1)

The heat transfer coefficient is estimated using QE and the log-mean temperature
difference as the driving force in the packed bed.

QE
h (2)
A TLN

Estimation of Mass Transfer Coefficients

The mass transfer is governed by the rate equation, which is given by

J A  k L, p x LN (3)
where x LN is the log-mean concentration difference and is expressed as

x LN 
(x i,P  xi*, P )  ( x0, P  xo*, P )  (4)
ln  ( x i,P  x ) ( xo , P  x
*
i,P
*
o, P )

Rabas et al. (1987) have calculated the equilibrium concentration of oxygen in

water at the inlet and outlet of a packed bed using the following equations:

( PD / H C )
xi*, P 
1  K M
e A / M N 2 M W / M A  ( s  C p ,i TF / H fg ) / xi  (5)

yA M A
xo*, P  (6)
PD H C M V
Equations (4)–(6) are substituted in Eq. (3) to obtain an equation for mass transfer
coefficient as
V xi , P  x o , P
*

k L, p  (7)
AC x LN
Another expression for the determination of the mass transfer coefficient has been given
by Costa et al. (2006):
NTU LM L'
k LC, P  (8)
a AC L
xi , P
where NTU LM  ln .
xo , P

The mass transfer coefficients are evaluated using Eqs. (7) and (8), which are
applicable to packed beds.

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 Experimental Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in A Packed Bed

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The increase in mass flow rate of packed bed water increases the heat transfer
coefficients in the packed bed, as shown in Figure 2. The rate of increase is greater for
inlet water temperature of 55 °C compared with 95 °C owing to the higher temperature
potential between steam and water.

Figure 2. Effect of mass flow rate of packed bed water on condensation heat transfer
coefficient for two different inlet water temperatures.

Figure 3. Comparison of present data with that from Kuznetsov et al. (1993) with
porous systems and packing.

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The variation of the experimental Nusselt number with Reynolds number is shown
in Figure 3, together with the data from Kuznetsov et al. (1993), which was obtained for
upward gas-liquid flow in a tube filled with spheres. Experimental data with upward
steam and downward water flow is not available in the literature. The trend of the
present experimental data for different inlet water temperatures is satisfactory in
comparison. The condensation heat transfer coefficient has no significant influence on
inlet water oxygen concentration, as shown in Figure 4. The variation of condensation
heat transfer coefficient with packed bed pressure is shown in Figure 5. The
condensation heat transfer coefficient increases with an increase in packed bed pressure
at lower temperatures, and remains constant at higher temperatures. This is due to the
higher driving force between the steam and water.

Figure 4. Effect of pressure of packed bed on condensation heat transfer coefficient for
two different inlet water temperatures.

The increasing trends of mass transfer coefficient at different inlet water

temperatures are shown in Figure 6. The increase in mass flow rate of water is similar to
the increase in heat transfer coefficients, as can be seen from a comparison with
Figure 2. The mass transfer coefficient has no significant influence with packed bed
pressure, as shown in Figure 7. The mass transfer coefficient has no significant
influence on oxygen concentration of inlet water, as shown in Figure 8.

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 Experimental Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in A Packed Bed

Figure 5. Effect of oxygen concentration in inlet water on condensation heat transfer

coefficient for two different inlet water temperatures.

Figure 6. Effect of mass flow rate of packed bed water on mass transfer coefficient for
two different inlet water temperatures.

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Figure 7. Effect of pressure of packed bed on mass transfer coefficient for two different
inlet water temperatures.

Figure 8. Effect of oxygen concentration in inlet water on mass transfer coefficient for
two different inlet water temperatures.

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 Experimental Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer in A Packed Bed

CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions can be drawn from the present analysis:

a) The increase in mass flow rate of water in a packed bed increases the heat
transfer coefficients. The values of heat transfer coefficient are in the range of
100–500 W/m2K for the experimental range tested.
b) The increase in flow rate of water in a packed bed increases the mass transfer
coefficients.
c) The mass transfer coefficient in the packed bed estimated using the theoretical
equation of Costa et al. (2006) is in good agreement with the present
experimental values.
d) The increase in packed bed pressure increases both the heat and mass transfer
coefficients by 25% and 12%, respectively, at lower temperatures and remains
constant at higher temperatures.
e) The increase in inlet water temperature decreases both the heat and mass transfer
coefficients owing to a decrease in the driving force.
f) The increase in oxygen concentration of inlet water has no significant effect on
the heat and mass transfer coefficients

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Financial support by the Universiti Malaysia Pahang and DJR College of Engineering
and Technology, Vijayawada, India, are gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES

Costa, P., Ferro, A., Ghiazza, E., & Bosio, B. (2006). Seawater deaeration at very low
steam flow rates in the stripping section. Desalination 201, 306-314.
Ferro, E., Ghiazza, E., Bosio, B., & Costa, P. (2002). Modeling of flash and stripping
phenomena in deaerators for seawater desalination. Desalination 142, 171-180.
Kuznetsov, V. V., & Dimov, S. V. (1993). The influence of the geometrical parameters
of a porous medium on two-phase filtration. 4 th Symp. Multiphase Transport in
Porous Media: Prpc. ASME Winter Annual Meeting, Nov. 27–30, pp. 207-223
Rabas, T. J., Inoue, S., & Shimizu, A. (1987). An update on the mass transfer of counter
flow, packed deaerators containing pall-ring packing. Desalination, 66, 91-107.
Satya Narayana, P. V., Ramireddy, G., & Venkataramana, S. (2011). Hall current
effects on free-convection MHD flow past a porous plate. International Journal
of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, 3, 350-363.
Sharma, K. V., Suryanarayana, K. V., Sarma, P. K., Rahman, M. M., Noor, M. M., &
Kadirgama, K. (2010). Experimental investigations of oxygen stripping from
feed water in a spray cum tray type deaerator. International Journal of
Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, 1, 46-65.
Syam Sundar, L., & Sharma, K.V. 2011. Laminar convective heat transfer and friction
factor of Al2O3 nanofluid in circular tube fitted with twisted tape inserts.
International Journal of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering, 3, 265-278.

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NOMENCLATURE
a packing area per unit volume, m 2 / m 3
A surface area for heat transfer, m 2
AC area of cross section for packed bed, m 2
CP specific heat, J kg K
D diameter of the tank, m
TF temperature drop or flashing at packing inlet, 0.3–0.6 °C
TLN log-mean temperature difference,
[(TS  Ti )  (TS  To )] ln[(TS  Ti ) (TS  To )]
h heat transfer coefficient, W / m 2 K
HC Henry’s law constant, N / m 2 / ppb
H fg latent heat of condensation, J / kg
JA molar flux of component A, kg  mol / m 2 s
k thermal conductivity of water, W / mK
Ke ratio of oxygen to nitrogen mass at packing inlet ( 1.75)
kL mass transfer coefficient, m / s
L length, m
'
L superficial mass velocity of flowing liquid, kg / m 2 s
M molecular weight, kg / kg  mol
m mass flow rate of water, kg s
NTU Lm number of liquid phase transfer units for mass transfer
Nu Nusselt number, hD k
Q heat transfer, W
Re Reynolds number, 4 m  D 
s mass flow rate ratio of stripping steam to the inlet water
T temperature, K
*
V volumetric flow rate of water into the deaerator, m 3 s
x mole fraction of O2 in water
*
x equilibrium mole fraction of O2 in water
y mole fraction of O2 in steam
V velocity of liquid, m s
 viscosity of water, kg m s
A oxygen or non-condensable gas
AV average
E energy balance
i inlet
L liquid
N2 nitrogen
o outlet
P packed bed
V water vapor
W water

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