Simulation of the calcium chloride aqueous salt solution spray regeneration process

The present work is a simulation of spray regeneration of liquid desiccant aqueous solution using three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic software (CFX-10). This simulation involved the spray evaporation of calcium chloride aqueous salt solution, as a liquid desiccant, into hot moist air. Liquid desiccants have a unique mass transfer direction that depends on the value of the liquid desiccant vapor pressure to air vapor pressure. Therefore, a FORTRAN subroutine was designed and added to the CFX software, which dealt with the rate of mass transfer between the desiccant liquid and the hot moist air. Additionally, the effect of the spray evaporation parameters was investigated. To validate the numerical CFX work, an experimental test rig was designed and built, and a few experimental results were obtained. It was found that the values of the injected droplet diameter size, spray angle, hot air temperature, and spray injection speed had an important role in the liquid desiccant regeneration process. Finally, the CFX software with an additional subroutine succeeded in simulating the spray evaporation of calcium chloride aqueous salt solution.