Numerical investigation of carbon dioxide absorption in a falling-film micro-contactor

A rigorous mathematical model is developed to describe chemical absorption of carbon dioxide in a falling-film micro-contactor. Contrary to previous models described in literature, hydrodynamics in both phases is accurately captured by the Navier–Stokes equations. By this means, backmixing effects can be accounted for. Furthermore, the interface position is determined directly using the level-set method. The developed model is validated with experimental data obtained from literature and a good agreement is established. With the validated model, detailed studies are performed to investigate the impact of process parameters.