Analysis of adiabatic heat and mass transfer of microporous hydrophobic hollow fiber membrane-based generator in vapor absorption refrigeration system

A microporous hydrophobic hollow fiber membrane-based generator (HFM-G) is expected to be an alternative type of generator in vapor absorption refrigeration system, which can be compact and lightweight with the enhanced heat and mass transfer. This paper pursues a comprehensive understanding of a detailed desorption mechanism of the proposed HFM-G, and suggests the feasible configuration for the practical use. A theoretical HFM-G mechanism is first introduced to gain an understanding of the adiabatic heat and mass transfer. A gas permeation test determines the nominal pore size of the membrane, which characterizes the mass transfer across the membrane. Transient experiments demonstrate the characteristics of the adiabatic desorption process on the HFM-G for wide range of feed solution concentrations under various practical operating conditions. A comparison shows that the experimental heat and mass transfer results are consistent with the theoretical values of adiabatic desorption heat and mass transfer on the HFM-G.