Characteristics analysis of water film in transpiring wall reactor

• Simplified models are established based on typical transpiring wall reactor.
• Heat and mass transfer process between water film and bulk fluid are analyzed.
• The quantitative correlations describing water film characteristics are proposed.
• The formation mechanism and influence factors of water film are discussed in detail.

Transpiring wall reactor can significantly overcome reactor material corrosion and salt deposition problems by forming a protective water film on its inner porous wall. In this work, a simplified physical model of transpiring wall reactor was built to analyze the process of heat and mass transfer between the water film and bulk fluid. Furthermore, two quantitative correlations between the thickness of water film and main operating parameters were proposed for the first time using theoretical analysis and mathematical deduction method. For a given transpiring wall reactor, appropriately increasing the flow rate and inlet temperature of transpiration water is conducive to maintain the growth of the water film thickness. A positive linear relation exists between the mass flow rate of transpiration water and the thickness of water film under constant feedstock parameters conditions. These quantitative correlations together with some meaningful conclusions help to guide the optimization of operating parameters as well as the design of transpiring wall reactor.