Water falling film evaporation on a corrugated plate

This paper presents experimental results on the study of falling water film evaporation on a single vertical corrugated plate. The corrugated plate module, made of stainless steel having a total heat transfer area of 0.267 m2, was fabricated and tested in a pilot scale setup. The special geometry of the plate module allows the heat transfer between the liquid flowing in parallel channels inside de module and a film flowing on the two outer faces. Hydrodynamic and thermal tests were carried out. Results of heat transfer for evaporation from the surface of the water film are presented and compared to various correlations found in the literature. It is observed that when the surface is invaded by the film, decreasing film flow-rate provides higher ratio of wetted surface compared to increasing film flow-rate. The enhancement of heat transfer has been observed. Based on our own results, a new correlation has been proposed to predict the evaporative heat transfer by falling film.