CO2 Absorption and Mass Transfer in Film Flow on a Rotating Disc

The phenomenon of mass transfer is of vital importance in numerous industrial applications where gas and liquid phases interact. These mainly comprise chemical, semiconductor production, material industries etc. Separation of CO2 and other gasses from different materials, generating impurities and compromising material’s electrical and mechanical properties are of prime importance. CO2 absorption of a film flow of poly-ethylene terephthalate (PET) on a rotating disc is taken as a sample case for investigation through advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling. A survey was conducted for different degrees of polymerization and angular velocities. The Volume of Fluid model (VOF) was used to measure the layer thickness of the molten PET, which can affect the mass transfer phenomenon. The profile of the concentration of CO2 was also investigated through user defined scalar (UDS) transport equations. This work is based on observation and investigation of the concentration profiles at different positions over the disc which emphasised the effects of the convective forces in the mass transfer phenomenon particularly at higher radial position. The results revealed that mass transfer of CO2 depends on the thickness of PET layer and fluid viscosity. It was also observed that convection transport strongly influences the rate of absorption over different disc positions.