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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrefrig

Ammoniaewater desorption heat and mass transfer

in microchannel devices

Matthew D. Determan, Srinivas Garimella*

Sustainable Thermal Systems Laboratory, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

article info abstract

Article history: This paper presents the results of an experimentally validated model for the prediction of
Received 27 September 2010 local heat and mass transfer rates in a microchannel ammoniaewater desorber. The
Received in revised form desorber is an extremely compact 178 mm
178 mm
0.508 m tall component capable of
19 January 2011 transferring the required heat load (w17.5 kW) for a residential heat pump system. The
Accepted 4 February 2011 model predicts temperature, concentration and mass flow rate profiles through the
Available online 11 February 2011 desorber, as well as the effective wetted area of the heat transfer surface. Previous
experimental and analytical research by the authors demonstrated the performance of this
Keywords: same microchannel geometry as an absorber. Together, these studies show that this
Desorption compact geometry is suitable for all components in an absorption heat pump, which would
Miniaturization enable the increased use of absorption technology in the small-capacity heat pump
Mass transfer market.
Microchannel 2011 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Heat pump

Transfert de chaleur et de masse dans un desorbeur a`

ammoniac-eau a` microcanaux
Mots cles : Desorption ; Miniaturisation ; Transfert de masse ; Microcanal ; Pompe a` chaleur

1. Introduction complex thermodynamic cycles have achieved high theo-

The residential and light-commercial space-conditioning
market has long been dominated by the vapor compression
refrigeration system. The increasing global concern about
the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants used in
vapor compression refrigeration systems, and the potential
for low-grade thermal energy utilization has led to renewed
interest in absorption systems. Although increasingly
retical COPs, this same increased complexity requires the
use of numerous heat exchangers and control systems.
A lack of commercially available compact heat exchangers
has impeded the adoption of these thermodynamically
attractive absorption cycles as residential and light-
commercial space-conditioning systems. The design of
compact absorption system components is challenging
because it requires innovative high-flux concepts along with

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 1 404 894 7479.

E-mail address: sgarimella@gatech.edu (S. Garimella).
0140-7007/$ e see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2011.02.004
1198 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8

Nomenclature G mass flowrate per length of tube (kg s1 m1)

d liquid film thickness (m)
a wetted area ratio
A area (m2) Subscripts
C concentration (mol m3) a ammonia
cp specific heat (kJ kg1 K1) bulk bulk
c~p molar specific heat (kJ mol1 K1) con concentrated solution
h enthalpy (kJ kg1) des desorbing
LMTD log-mean temperature difference (K) dil dilute solution
M molar mass (kg mol1) dry dry portion
m _ mass flowrate (kg s1) f liquid film
Nu Nusselt number glyc water/glycol solution
n_ 00 molar flux (mol m2 s1) in inlet
Q_ heat transfer rate (kW) int interface
R thermal resistance (K W1) l liquid
Re Reynolds number out outlet
T temperature ( C) p pass
U overall heat transfer coefficient (W m2 K1) s solution side
x liquid mass fraction seg segment
y vapor mass fraction t tube side
y~ vapor molar fraction T total
z~ evaporating flux molar fraction v vapor
w water
Greek symbols
wall tube wall
a heat transfer coefficient (W m2 K1)
wet wet portion
b mass transfer coefficient (m s1)

an understanding of the heat and mass transfer process at
a local level.
A detailed survey of related literature on ammoniaewater
heat and mass transfer was presented in prior papers on
miniaturization technology for absorption components
(Garimella, 1999, 2000; Meacham and Garimella, 2002a,b, 2003,
2004) by this group. A comprehensive review of the theoretical
and analytical models for heat and mass transfer in ammo-
niaewater and LiBr/H2O systems was provided in Killion and
Garimella (2001), while a similar review of experimental
studies to understand these phenomena appears in Killion
and Garimella (2003). The reader is referred to those works
for the background that provides a context for the present
study. Thus, prior research efforts have primarily focused on
understanding heat and mass transfer in falling films of
various fluid pairs on horizontal and vertical tubes, for
example (Beutler et al., 1996a; Beutler et al., 1996b; Hoffmann
and Ziegler, 1996). Jeong and Garimella (2002) addressed the
lack of complete wetting of the tube surface by introducing
a wetting ratio and studied LiBr/H2O absorption during the
falling film, droplet formation, and droplet fall regions. They
later (Jeong and Garimella, 2005) used this multiple-flow-
regime model to show that the use of small diameter tubes for
commercial applications yields absorbers that are signifi-
cantly smaller than conventional absorbers. Generalized
models (Potnis et al., 1997) for GAX component and system
simulation, useful for sizing equipment, estimating the cycle
COP, and determining individual phase flow rates, have also
been developed. Among the innovations in compact compo-
nents for ammoniaewater systems is the corrugated and
perforated fin surface placed between rectangular coolant
channels that was developed by Christensen et al. (1998) that
can be used for absorbers, desorbers, and other components
in the cycle. Some of these concepts have yielded high heat
and mass transfer rates in commercial applications, but while
designs for use in residential systems must have favorable
heat and mass transfer rates, they must attain these rates
with simple and compact geometries.
Although most of the literature on heat and mass transfer
in absorption system components has focused on the
absorption process, for potential residential and light-
commercial use, compactness must be achieved in all
components of the system. This paper presents the results of
a combined experimental and analytical study to model
ammoniaewater desorption in a prototype heat and mass
exchanger that utilizes miniaturization technology to address
deficiencies in currently available designs. The concept was
first reported by Garimella (1999, 2000, 2004) for potential
application as any of the components in an absorption cycle,
with an analytical illustration as an absorber. Experiments
conducted on the first prototype for this concept were repor-
ted by Meacham and Garimella (2002a), while a detailed
analysis of the local variations in heat and mass transfer
coefficients along the absorber was presented in Meacham
and Garimella (2003). An improved design that addressed
solution flow distribution problems and enabled high-speed
flow visualization of the falling-film heat and mass transfer
process was developed and reported in Meacham and
Garimella (2004). Determan et al. (2004) demonstrated
through experiments the use of this same device as a compact
ammoniaewater desorber. The objective of the current work
is to develop an experimentally validated heat and mass
transfer model for ammoniaewater desorption in miniatur-
ized geometries from their data.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
2. Description of novel features and prior
developments
The miniaturized heat and mass transfer device consists of
short lengths of microchannel tubes placed in multiple square
arrays, with successive arrays oriented transversely perpen-
dicular to the adjacent arrays as shown in Fig. 1. The number
of tube arrays is determined by design duty requirements.
Hydronic fluid flows in parallel through individual tubes in the
arrays, from the bottom to the top of the device countercur-
rent to the falling solution. Due to the small diameter of the
tubes, this configuration allows for extremely high tube-side
heat transfer coefficients even though the flow is laminar.
Tube-side pressure drops are maintained within the required
limits by flowing the fluid in parallel through multiple tube
arrays. In an absorber application, vapor introduced at the
bottom of the absorber flows upward countercurrent to the
gravity driven falling solution. The vapor is absorbed into
the dilute solution, yielding a concentrated ammoniaewater
stream at the bottom of the absorber. Similarly, in a desorber
application, the concentrated solution is introduced at the top,
with hot hydronic fluid flowing inside the tubes. Ammo-
niaewater vapor is desorbed in the process, and rises to the
top of the desorber due to buoyancy, while the dilute solution
flows to the bottom due to gravity. This flow arrangement
leads to effective vapor-solution contact, minimizing heat and
mass transfer resistances. The counterflow arrangement
between the vapor and the solution also leads to higher outlet
ammonia vapor concentrations, thus reducing the rectifica-
tion load. The low solution-side heat and mass transfer
resistance, coupled with the high tube-side heat transfer
coefficient, allows the heat of absorption or desorption to be
transferred to or from the tube-side fluid effectively.
In the initial implementation as an absorber, the heat and
mass transfer model developed by Garimella (1999) was used to
estimate the size of the absorber required for a single-effect
10.55 kW cooling load residential heat pump, i.e., an absorption
load of about 19 kW, and a prototype absorber was fabricated
based on these results. While the overall experimental results
presented by Meacham and Garimella (2002a) indicated the
Fig. 1 e Microchannel Heat and Mass Exchanger Concept.
1199
capability of this concept to transfer heat duties representative
of residential heat pumps in a small envelope, the performance
was somewhat lower than that predicted by the preliminary
model of Garimella (1999). In addition, modeling of the local
measured heat and mass transfer variations within the
prototype absorber (Meacham and Garimella, 2003) indicated
that only 20e30% of the absorber surface area might have been
effectively utilized. From these results, it was inferred that
solution distribution problems at the top of the array might be
responsible for the potential solution mal-distribution. It was
also clear that the absorber performance was solution-side
limited, due to the relatively small influence of the coolant flow
rate on absorber performance. An improved configuration of
the absorber was developed based on these inferences,
primarily with the goal of addressing solution-side flow
distribution and surface wetting issues. In addition, optical
access to the absorption process was provided to enable
confirmation of the improvement in flow distribution. Experi-
ments covering a wide range of solution and coolant flow rates
and vapor fractions in this revised absorber (Meacham and
Garimella, 2004) were used to determine the overall and solu-
tion-side heat and mass transfer coefficients. It was found that
although the surface area of this improved absorber was only
0.456 m2, approximately 30% of the surface area of the original
prototype absorber, it was able to transfer duties as high as
15.1 kW, almost equaling the load of the original larger
absorber. The solution-side heat transfer coefficient was
reported to be in the range 638e1648 W m2 K1. This signifi-
cant increase in performance is attributed to the substantially
improved flow distribution. Visual documentation of the flow
in this absorber also confirmed the significantly improved flow
distribution and higher participation of the surface in the heat
and mass transfer process.
Having demonstrated the absorber function, the original
absorber first fabricated and tested by Meacham and
Garimella (2002a) was modified slightly (inlets, outlets and
distribution device) to allow operation as a desorber. This
desorber is shown in Fig. 2, with details of the geometry listed
in Table 1. The heat and mass transfer surface was not
modified, and remains the same as was used by Meacham and
Garimella (2002a). The microchannel tube array consists of 5
1200 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8

Fig. 2 e Prototype Desorber.

passes of 16 tube rows each with twenty-seven 1.575 mm the transverse orientation of the tube array. In the photo-
outside diameter
140 mm long tubes per row for a total graph, although two of the tubes appear warped due to the
surface area of 1.5 m2. Fig. 2(a) shows the desorber tube array brazing process, backlit photographs of the entire tube
before the header plates were brazed on, to reveal the details assembly indicated that light passed through almost every
of the tube spacing and pass arrangement. The coolant tubes tube in the array, confirming that only an extremely small
were brazed to the header assembly with a 4.76 mm tube pitch fraction of the tubes near the top were affected. Fig. 2(c) shows
in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Fig. 2(b) shows the desorber subassembly with the header plates brazed on.
The thermocouple ports for measurement of the hydronic
fluid temperature at each pass are visible as well as the fluid
distribution device above the top tube level.
Table 1 e Desorber geometry. Solution distribution and surface wetting problems
Geometric parameter Value encountered in the first tests of the absorber reported by
Meacham and Garimella (2002a) were attributed to the design
Tube outer diameter, mm 1.575
and fabrication of its drip tray. In that drip tray, minor warping
Tube inner diameter, mm 1.067
Tube wall material and thermal T304 stainless steel,
of the underside of the tray caused the solution to collect at
conductivity 15.4 W m1 K1 preferential locations before falling unevenly over the tube
Tube length, m 0.140 array. To address these solution distribution issues, and to
Number of tubes per row 27 provide passages for the desorbed vapor, a new distribution
Number of rows per pass 16 device (Fig. 2(d) e top view, (e) e bottom view) was developed
Number of passes 5
for the desorber in the present study. This drip tray has 648
Tube transverse pitch, mm 4.76
microchannel tubes (1.27 mm OD) of 15.9 mm length brazed
Row vertical pitch, mm 4.76
into the bottom. These tubes ensure that solution supply
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
droplets form directly above the tubes across the entire array
and do not coalesce before detaching as large streams at
preferential locations. In addition, the height of the tubes in
the tray provides an even gravity head for the inlet solution
pool before flowing uniformly through the dripper tubes to the
tube array. The drip tray also has nine vapor bypass tubes
(12.7 mm OD) that extend above the top edge of the tray
(Fig. 2(d)) to ensure that the vapor generated within the tube
array has an unimpeded exit path. During testing, the
assembly is enclosed in a flanged stainless steel shell (Fig. 2(f))
that is bolted to the base flange. The thermocouple probes as
well as all of the fluid inlets and outlets, except for the vapor
outlet, enter through the base flange. The vapor exits the
device through a port in the top flange.
3. Experimental approach and data analysis
A schematic of the heat and mass transfer test facility used for
the investigation of this desorber is shown in Fig. 3. A variable-
speed pump delivers the desired concentrated solution flow
rate to the solution heat exchanger where it is preheated
before it enters the desorber. The concentrated solution then
flows to the desorber where it is distributed uniformly over the
tube array by the solution drip tray described above, and flows
in the falling-film mode over the tubes. A steam-heated glycol/
water solution flows upward through the tube array in coun-
terflow with the falling solution. Control of the steam pressure
allows for a range of desorption heat transfer rates. The
glycol/water loop consists of a pump and a coiled tube-in-tube
heat exchanger where steam is condensed to provide the
desired heat input. As the ammonia vapor is desorbed, it flows
upwards, countercurrent to the solution, due to buoyancy and
is removed at the top of the desorber. The resulting dilute
solution is collected in a tray at the bottom of the desorber and
then flows through the solution heat exchanger where it is
Fig. 3 e Test Facility Schematic.
1201
recuperatively subcooled. This also ensures that the solution
does not flash as it flows through the mass flow meter.
The vapor and dilute solution streams rejoin upstream of the
absorber, which is a coiled tube-in-tube heat exchanger. The
heat of absorption is removed by a closed cooling water loop
which, in turn, is cooled by city water in the plate heat
exchanger. City and cooling water flow rate variations provide
the requisite control of the absorber heat sink. After exiting
the absorber, the solution enters a shell-and-tube subcooler to
ensure that the vapor has been completely absorbed into the
solution before it returns to the solution pump.
Temperature, pressure, and mass flow rate measurement
locations are shown in Fig. 3. Micromotion Coriolis flow meters
(0.15% uncertainty) are used for mass flow measurements of
the concentrated solution, dilute solution and glycol/water
solution. The vapor flow rate is determined by the difference
between the concentrated and dilute solution flow rates. The
absorber cooling water flow rate is measured with a Rose-
mount magnetic flow meter (0.5% uncertainty). Absolute
pressure measurements of the solution and vapor streams are
made using Rosemount transducers with uncertainties of
0.25% of span. The tube-side pressure drop in the desorber is
measured with a Rosemount differential pressure transducer
with an uncertainty of 0.075% of span. Type T thermocouples
(0.5  C uncertainty) are used to measure the pass-wise
hydronic fluid temperatures in the headers of the desorber, as
well as the solution temperatures in the solution drip tray and
collection tray. The remaining solution temperatures, as well
as the glycol/water temperatures and the absorber cooling
water temperatures are measured with RTDs (0.5  C to
0.8  C uncertainty). The city water temperatures are
measured with type T thermocouples. A TEMPSCAN data
acquisition system records all measured data for real-time
data analysis. Plots of the temperatures and pressures versus
time are used to ensure that steady state conditions are
reached before data for any test condition are recorded.
Temperature and pressure measurements of the dilute
solution and vapor leaving the desorber were used to deter-
mine the concentration at these saturated states. Mass and
species balances were used to determine the concentration of
the entering solution. Once the concentrations were deter-
mined, temperatures and pressures at the desorber inlet and
outlet were used to determine the solution-side heat duty. The
temperatures and flow rate of the glycolewater solution were
also used to calculate the heat duty, to help establish an
energy balance between the two sides of the desorber. Once
the desorber heat duty was known, the log-mean temperature
difference (LMTD) between the solution and the heating fluid
was used to calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient (U ).
The tube-side heat transfer coefficient (at) was calculated
using the Churchill equation (Churchill, 1977a,b) for the Nus-
selt number. The solution-side desorption heat transfer
coefficient (as) was then calculated using a resistance network
approach with a wall resistance of 1.99
105 m2 K W1.
An error propagation technique (Taylor and Kuyatt, 1994)
was used to estimate the uncertainty in the solution-side heat
transfer coefficient. At a representative point with a concen-
trated solution flow rate of 0.0264 kg s1, a vapor flow rate of
6.80
103 kg s1 and a glycol/water flow rate of 0.153 kg s1, the
uncertainties in the measured temperature and pressure values
1202 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
used to determine concentrations yield: xcon 0.4793  0.0021,
xdil 0.3049  0.0025, and y 0.9832  0.0006. These values,
combined with the uncertainties in the flow rate, temperature
and pressure measurements, yield a solution-side heat duty of
13.09  0.347 kW. The corresponding glycol/water-side heat
duty is 12.93  0.355 kW, which results in an average desorber
heat duty of 13.01  0.248 kW. This heat duty and an LMTD of
17.6  0.56  C yield an overall U of 493.9  20.11 W m2 K1. The
tube-side heat transfer coefficient, at, with an assumed uncer-
tainty of 25%, is calculated to be 1419  354 W m2 K1. Finally,
the solution-side heat transfer coefficient is calculated to be
as 1037  293.2 W m2 K1.
4. Heat and mass transfer model
The experimental results obtained from the tests described
above were also analyzed using a model that accounted for
the local variations in the heat and mass transfer resistances
through the length of the desorber. The basic approach is well
documented by Price and Bell (1974), who in turn used the
technique developed by Colburn and Drew (1937) for the
condensation of a binary vapor with a miscible condensate.
Other investigators (Kang and Christensen, 1994, 1995;
Garrabrant and Christensen, 1997; Kang et al., 1997; Kang
et al., 1998) have also adapted this technique to the design of
ammoniaewater heat and mass transfer components.
Meacham and Garimella (2003) used a similar approach for
modeling the performance of the device under consideration
here as an absorber. The geometry under consideration is
assumed to induce a well-mixed liquid film. Using this
assumption, the desorption of vapor from the falling liquid
film is governed by the mass transfer resistance in the vapor
phase and the concentration gradient between the vapor-
eliquid interface and the bulk vapor. Thus, the molar flux of
the vapor being absorbed into the liquid film is given by:
" #
00 z~  y~int
n_ T CT bv ln
z~  y~bulk
where bv is the mass transfer coefficient, CT is the total molar
concentration of the vapor, and z~ is the molar concentration
of the evaporating flux. The mass transfer coefficient is
determined through a heat and mass transfer analogy. The
corresponding vapor-phase heat transfer coefficient is calcu-
lated from a correlation for crossflow over tubes by Churchill
and Bernstein (1977). The driving molar concentration
difference in the above equation is a function of the molar
concentration of the evaporating flux, z, ~ the equilibrium
molar vapor concentration at the interface, y~int , and the bulk
molar concentration of the vapor, y~bulk . The interfacial vapor
concentration is determined by assuming that the vapor at
the interface is in local equilibrium with the liquid. The
individual ammonia and water desorption fractions are
determined as follows:
_ des;a Ma n_ 00a aAp
m (2)
_ des;w Mw n_ 00w aAp
m (3)
In this analysis, the desorber is divided into five segments,
with each segment representing one tube-side pass. Also,
allowance is made for the tube surface not being completely
wetted by the solution film. Thus, a is the fraction of the tube
surface area that is wetted and Ap is the total tube surface area
of one pass of the exchanger. Mass and species balances on
the segment provide the outlet flow rates and concentrations
as follows:
_ l;in m
m _ v;in m
_ l;out m
_ v;out (4)
_ l;in xin m
m _ v;in yin m
_ l;out xout m
_ v;out yout (5)
~ the molar concentration
In the above equations, the value of z,
of the evaporating flux, is needed to calculate the desorption
rate. This is determined based on the heat transfer rate that
can be supported by the overall heat transfer coefficient. The
solution-side desorption heat duty to be supplied by the
heating fluid is determined by an enthalpy balance as follows:
Q_ seg m
_ l;out hl;out m
_ v;out hv;out  m
_ l;in hl;in  m
_ v;in hv;in (6)
This equation accounts for both the latent heat of desorption
and the sensible heating of the liquid stream. The relevant
mass flow rates are established by the mass transfer and mass
balance equations outlined above. The inlet and outlet liquid
enthalpies are determined from the corresponding equilib-
rium concentrations. The vapor inlet enthalpy is known from
the heat and mass transfer calculations for the previous
segments. The heat transfer rate from the glycol in the
segment is calculated as follows:
 
Q_ seg m
_ glyc cp;glyc Tglyc;in  Tglyc;out (7)
After calculating an average tube wall temperature for the
segment using a resistance network approach, the heat
transfer rate through the wetted portion of the tube is calcu-
lated as follows:
1
Rf (8)
af $a$Ap
(1)
 
1  
Q_ wet $ LMTDwall;f (9)
Rf
where the log-mean temperature difference (LMTDwall,f),
between the wall and the liquid is the driving force. It should
be noted that the heat transfer coefficient af used here is based
only on the wetted surface area, and is therefore different
from the as reported from the experimental results in the
previous section. Also, the treatment below is different from
that used by Meacham and Garimella (2003) in the manner in
which the surface wetting is addressed. Meacham and Gar-
imella applied a wetted area ratio to the entire exchanger, and
used one value of a to represent all the passes. Here, an area
ratio is computed separately for each pass to account for
changes in the tube wetting characteristics along the length of
the desorber. In addition, the area ratio used by Meacham and
Garimella simply applied a uniform area reduction to the
overall physical surface area of the exchanger; thus, the
surface was either participating in the heat and mass transfer
process if it was wet, or not participating at all. In the present
study, the direct heat transfer between the dry portion of the
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8 1203

tube wall and the bulk vapor is also accounted for in an to 17.5 kW as the solution flow rate was increased from
explicit manner, in addition to the heat and mass transfer in 0.0188 kg s1 to 0.0339 kg s1. Over the range of test conditions,
the wet portion. The heat transfer rate from the dry portion of the overall heat transfer coefficient (Fig. 4) increased roughly
the wall directly to the vapor is calculated as follows: linearly with the concentrated solution flow rate, ranging
from a minimum of 388 W m2 K1 at 0.0188 kg s1 to
1
Rv;dry (10) a maximum of 617 W m2 K1 at a concentrated solution flow
av $1  a$Ap
rate of 0.0351 kg s1. The solution mass flow rate has a large
 
1 impact on the performance of the desorber. Determan et al.
Q_ v;dry $LMTDwall;v (11)
Rv;dry (2004) also reported that the corresponding solution-side
heat transfer coefficient as (total surface area basis) varied
The LMTDwall,v between the wall and the vapor is used here.
from 659 to 1795 W m2 K1 over the range of conditions
The sensible heat transfer between the liquidevapor interface
tested. This range of as in the desorption mode is similar to the
on the wet portion of the tube and the bulk vapor is calculated
values reported by Meacham and Garimella (2004)
as follows:
(638 < as < 1648 W m2 K1) for absorption for a similar micro-
 
f channel configuration, although with somewhat different
Q_ v;wet av $a$Ap $LMTDv;int (12)
1  ef dimensional details. Although the tube-side heat transfer
coefficient is relatively high (1396e1466 W m2 K1) for all the
Here, av is the vapor-phase heat transfer coefficient, LMTDv,int
test conditions due to the use of microchannels, it still
is the log-mean temperature difference between the vapor
represents 40e65% of the overall heat transfer resistance.
and the interface, and the term in the brackets is the correc-
Thus, the desorber was found to be solution-side limited at
tion factor for the heat transfer coefficient due to mass
the low solution flow rates, while at the high end of the
transfer. The parameter f is given by:
ammoniaewater solution flow rate, the ammoniaewater heat
n_ a c~p;a n_ w c~p;w transfer coefficient is high enough that the tube-side resis-
f (13) tance is not negligible. This was illustrated by Determan
av
et al. (2004) with the increase in performance with an
The segment vapor outlet temperature is found by summing the
increase in solution flow rate, and a somewhat smaller
sensible heat transfer from the dry wall and the liquidevapor
dependence of the overall heat transfer coefficient on the
interface as follows:
coolant flow rate. The overall U and as were found to be
Q_ v Q_ v;dry Q_ v;wet (14) less sensitive to vapor fraction. This is because the vapor-
side velocities and more importantly, the vapor-phase
This total heat transfer to the vapor phase is used to calculate resistance, do not change appreciably in the range of
the segment vapor outlet temperature: conditions tested.
  These experimental results were analyzed in detail, on
Q_ v m
_ v cp;v Tv;in  Tv;out (15)
a pass-by-pass basis, using the model discussed above.
The correlation developed by Wilke (Wilke, 1962) is used to Measured solution and vapor state points at the desorber inlet
estimate the falling-film Nusselt number as follows: and outlet, and the progression of measured glycol tempera-
tures at the headers of each pass within the desorber were
Nul 0:029$Re0:533 $Pr0:344 (16) used as inputs for the analysis. The wetted area fraction, a,
The Reynolds number is defined as Re 4G/m, where G is the was then varied for each segment for data points representing
mass flow rate per tube, per length of wetted tube. The
segment heat transfer rate, accounting for the heat transfer
from the wet portion (wall-to-solution: Qwet) and the dry
portion (wall-to-vapor: Qdry) is then calculated as follows:

Q_ seg Q_ wet Q_ dry (17)

Closure to the model is obtained when the segment heat

transfer rates computed iteratively based on ammoniaewater
enthalpies (Equation (6)), glycol temperature drop (Equation
(7)), and heat and mass transfer resistances (Equation (17)) are
equal.

5. Results and discussion

The application of the heat and mass transfer model pre-

sented above is discussed here. The results from the experi-
ments first reported by Determan et al. (2004) are summarized
in Fig. 4, and serve as a starting point for the discussion. In the Fig. 4 e Measured Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient vs.
experiments, the desorber heat duties increased from 5.4 kW Concentrated Solution Flow Rate.
1204 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
Fig. 5 e Glycol and Vapor Heat Duties vs. Desorber Pass.
a broad range of experimental conditions until the predicted
desorber outlet conditions matched the corresponding
measured values.
This model validation approach is further illustrated using
a data point near the design condition. This test case had
a dilute solution flow rate of 0.0223 kg s1 and a temperature
and concentration of 83.7  C and 0.316. Glycol solution entered
the desorber at a mass flow rate of 0.1152 kg s1 and
a temperature of 99.4  C. The vapor desorption rate was
0.00529 kg s1, and it exited the desorber at a temperature of
68.4  C, and an experimentally determined concentration of
0.9774. The desorber pressure was maintained at 664.7 kPa.
The predicted variations in the significant parameters
within the desorber are now illustrated for this data point.
Fig. 6 e Illustration of Passwise Variation in Significant Parameters.
Fig. 5 shows the variation of the glycol heat duty and the
sensible heat duty of the vapor with desorber pass. This figure
shows that the sensible heat transfer between the vapor and
the liquid film is a small fraction of the heat load transferred
by the glycol. The glycol heat duty per pass is plotted based on
measured glycol temperatures at inlet/outlet headers of each
pass. It can be seen that the heat transfer rate is the highest at
the top of the desorber, decreases toward the middle, and
rises again at the bottom-most pass. These results can be
interpreted as follows. The measured temperature drops in
the glycol, which correspond to the pass heat duty, are 6.5, 6.0,
5.3, 5.1, 6.5  C from the top to the bottom, respectively.
The decreasing heat duty per pass in the first four passes
appears to be the result of several competing factors as illus-
trated by Fig. 6. As the liquid film flows down the tube array,
the total liquid flow rate is decreasing due to the vapor
generation. The liquid, however, could also be coalescing into
rivulets, partly due to surface tension, thus reducing the
wetted area of the tubes. Based on the measured pass-by-pass
glycol temperatures, the wetted area ratio (Fig. 7) decreases
from 0.82 in the top pass to 0.23 at the fourth pass. The
consolidation of the liquid film into rivulets, and therefore, the
increased mass flux for a given mass flow rate, tends to
increase the film Reynolds number. On the other hand, the
decrease in solution flow rate due to desorption tends to
decrease the film Re. The film Re is also simultaneously
affected by fluid property changes due to temperature and
concentration changes. Thus, the liquid viscosity changes
from 4.88
104 kg m1 s1 in the top pass of the desorber to
3.53
104 kg m1 s1 in the bottom pass. These competing
factors lead to an increase in the Reynolds number from
Re 71 in the top pass, to Re 277 in the next to last pass.
In the final pass, the increased glycol temperature drop
indicates an increase in the wetted area ratio to 0.43, and
a corresponding decrease in the Reynolds number to Re 158.
The film heat transfer coefficient varies with Reynolds
number and the liquid film thickness. An increase in the
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8 1205

Fig. 8 e Average Wetted Areas for the Present Study.

Fig. 7 e Wetted Area Fraction by Pass.

that increasing the solution flow rate leads to larger wetted

areas. Fig. 9 shows the pass-wise variation in wetted area
Reynolds number would tend to increase the heat transfer
fractions for a representative data point at each of the 5
coefficient in wavy flows, but an increase in film thickness
nominal solution flow rates. All of these cases show the same
(due to coalescence) would decrease the heat transfer coeffi-
general behavior and the increase in wetted area fraction with
cient. The above discussion indicated an increase in the liquid
increasing solution flow rates is evident. For the cases with
Re as the solution flows down due to a decrease in the wetted
higher solution flow rates, the area fraction actually
area. However, this decrease in the wetted area would also
approaches 1 in the upper-most pass. (Another potential
increase the liquid film thickness, which would contribute to
explanation is that when the glycol solution entering at the
a decrease in the heat transfer coefficient. It appears that the
bottom makes the first bend to enter the next pass, some tube-
Reynolds number plays the more dominant role here, and the
side mal-distribution is introduced, which reduces local heat
film heat transfer coefficient increases from 2140 to
transfer and desorption rates, and is erroneously reflected as
3116 W m2 K1 from the top pass to the fourth pass, and then
smaller wetted area fractions. Additional local solution-side
decreases in the final pass to 2890 W m2 K1. It should be
and glycol-side measurements and flow visualization studies
pointed out, however, that even though the heat transfer
could confirm this interpretation.)
coefficient is the highest in the fourth pass, the overall heat
Fig. 10 shows the variation of the total and species
duty of this pass is the lowest among all passes. This is due to
desorption rates through the desorber. In the bottom section
the fact that the wetted area is the smallest in this pass and
therefore there is the least amount of heat transfer area
between the tubes and the liquid film. This illustrates that
increasing the liquid film heat transfer coefficient alone is an
insufficient design goal for falling-film heat and mass
exchangers. The wetted area ratio plays a major role in the
total heat and mass transfer rates and therefore the size of the
device. The average wetted area fraction over the entire
desorber for this case is 0.45. Over the range of conditions
investigated in this study, the average wetted area fraction
ranged from 0.25 to 0.69.
The increasing wetted area fraction at the bottom pass is
substantiated by the corresponding increase in pass heat duty
near the bottom of the desorber (Fig. 5). It should be noted that
pass-by-pass duties were measured using glycol tempera-
tures, thus these predictions are based on the actual
measured quantities. It is possible that the lower solution flow
rates and lower countercurrent vapor velocities at the bottom
of the desorber result in thinner solution films that also spread
over the tubes more uniformly. Fig. 8 shows the average
wetted area fraction for all 60 data points analyzed in this Fig. 9 e Wetted Area Fractions by Pass for Representative
study versus the concentrated solution flowrate. It can be seen Points.
1206 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
Fig. 10 e Desorption Rates by Pass.
of the desorber, both the ammonia and water are being des-
orbed from the liquid solution. The water desorption rate
decreases from the bottom pass to the top pass, eventually
even becoming negative in the top pass, indicating that
rectification of the vapor is occurring simultaneously with
desorption of ammonia. This increases the concentration of
the ammonia vapor leaving the desorber, and therefore
reduces the rectification load. The effects of the varying
wetted area ratio are also evident in this graph, which corre-
sponds to the heat duties shown in Fig. 5. However, the
balance between water desorption and reflux condensation
(or rectification) rates is a stronger function of local temper-
ature differences (between the vapor and the solution or
between the vapor and the tube wall) than on the wetted area
fraction. This coupled with the lower water desorption rates
that are primarily the consequence of local vaporeliquid
equilibrium concentration, results in a fairly monotonous
trend in water desorption rates.
The rectification, or cooling, of the vapor as it rises in the
desorber is also clear in Fig. 11. The initial vapor desorbed at
the bottom of the desorber must necessarily be at the
Fig. 11 e Temperature Profiles in the Desorber.
Fig. 12 e Variation of Average Vapor and Liquid-Phase
Concentrations with Desorber Pass.
equilibrium concentration and the temperature of the exiting
solution. The temperature of the vapor initially increases from
83.7  C to 85.0  C due to heat transfer from the exposed dry
portion of the wall, after which it steadily decreases through
the length of the desorber due to heat and mass transfer with
the adjoining liquid film of an increasing concentration as it
moves upward. The predicted vapor outlet temperature at the
top of the desorber is 61.1  C, while the corresponding
measured value is 68.4  C, showing a reasonable agreement
between the model and the data. However, it should be noted
that because of the relatively low mass flow rate and specific
heat of the vapor, this temperature discrepancy represents an
error in heat duty on the order of 90 W. Compared to the
overall heat duty of the desorber (11.1 kW), this is a relatively
small (0.8%) error. The concentrated solution entered the
desorber at a subcooled inlet temperature of 53.9  C, whereas
the saturated temperature is 58.8  C. The difference of 2.3  C
between the vapor outlet and the saturated liquid inlet shows
a very desirable, small departure from equilibrium between
the vapor and the solution at the desorber outlet. (The glycol
temperatures shown in this figure are the actual measured
values.)
Fig. 12 shows the predicted average pass concentrations for
the bulk vapor, vapor interface, evaporating flux, z, and the
liquid solution. The liquid concentration steadily decreases
from 0.4358 to 0.3321 as it flows down through the desorber,
while the bulk vapor concentration increases from 0.9515 to
0.9839 as it flows upwards. The corresponding vapor concen-
trations at the interface are 0.9543 and 0.9868, respectively.
For this data point, the vapor exits the desorber at a concen-
tration of 0.9873. The evaporating flux concentration, z,
becomes greater than 1 in the top passes, indicating that
water is being absorbed into the liquid.
6. Conclusions
The results of a combined experimental and analytical
study of ammoniaewater desorption in a microchannel
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 4 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 1 1 9 7 e1 2 0 8
device were presented in this study. The model was able to
predict the measured conditions at the component inlets
and outlets, and also the incremental variations in mass
flow rates, concentrations, temperatures and heat duties
along the length of the desorber. The technique utilized
a pass-wise wetted area ratio for closure, and showed that
the wetted area ratio of the tube array ranged from 25 to
69% over the conditions investigated in this study.
Although the primary resistance to mass transfer consid-
ered here is in the vapor phase, it is the wetted area ratio
that ultimately limits the performance of the desorber. It
was also found that the vapor being generated is cooled
through interactions with the adjacent liquid film as it
rises through the desorber, yielding a desirable high
concentration of ammonia vapor at the desorber outlet.
Desorption loads of up to 17.5 kW were transferred, at
overall heat transfer coefficients between 388 W m2 K1 and
617 W m2 K1. This performance was achieved with low
coolant pressure drops (11e30 kPa) in spite of the use of
extremely small diameter tubes, due to the parallel pass
arrangement chosen. Additional performance improvements
can be obtained by further increasing the wetted surface of
the tube array. The concept investigated here was initially
demonstrated as an absorber by the authors in previous
studies (Garimella, 1999, 2000; Meacham and Garimella, 2002a,
2003; Garimella, 2004; Meacham and Garimella, 2004). Minor
modifications sufficed to convert the absorber to the desorber
function, demonstrating the versatility of the concept. The
results of this study show that the subject microchannel heat
and mass transfer technology can be successfully used for
both desorption and absorption to package an absorption heat
pump system for small-capacity applications in an extremely
compact envelope.
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