Numerical Study of Laminar Mixed Convection Heat and Mass Transfer with Phase Change in Vertical Channel

The present analysis is concerned with the effects of simultaneous heat and mass transfer phenomena on downward laminar flow of humid air in a vertical channel with isothermal wet walls using an elliptical formulation. The nonlinear partial differential equations describing the physical system was solved using the finite volume method implemented on a staggered mesh, the velocity-pressure coupling is processed by the SIMPLE algorithm. In this work, particular attention is paid to study the effect of the ambient conditions on evaporation rate of water. The major results show that the sensible heat is always transferred from the air to the walls; the latter must be heated when evaporation is important. In addition the evaporation rate increases noticeably with decrease of the Reynolds number and humidity of the inlet air.