Discussions of Effects of Surface Tension on Water Vapor Absorbed by Triethylene Glycol Solution Films

Abstract

The surface tension gradient can result from releasing a surfactant from the liquid film or feeding a vapor into the liquid film, and the interfacial disturbance will be induced by them. The flowing phenomena were termed “Marangoni effect,” and the mass trans - fer performance was enhanced by the effect. The objective of this study was to apply the Marangoni effect, such as water vapors absorbed by the liquid film of triethylene glycol (TEG) solution, and to analysze mass transfer behaviors with and without sur factants’ addition in the liquid film. The interfacial disturbance resulted from the sur - face tension gradient was considered in this study, and the mass transfer behaviors for packed-bed absorbers were discussed to elucidate the influence of the Marangoni effect on the absorbers. It was observed that the trends of mass transfer rates could be increased significantly as the surfactant is added into the absorption system. Experimental results showed that feeding a vapor or adding a surfactant with lower surface tension and/or higher volatility in the liquid will result in the surface tension gradient on the gas-liquid interface. The induced flowing disturbance will lead to an increment of mass transfer rate for a gas-liquid contact system.