COMMUNICATION TO THE EDITOR

Falling Film Evaporators - A Design Equation for

Heat Transfer Rates
V . NARAYANA MURTHY catd P . K . SARMA

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andhra University, Waltair

his article is a further extension of the work

already presented by the authors in"o'. Explicit
expressions are obtained to evaluate the dynamic and
heat transfer characteristics of falling films by employing suitable expressions for eddy diffusivity of
momentum and heat. Further, the limitation on the
dimensionless film thickness, is lifted. The dimensionless falling film thickness derived from the theory
is in close agreement with the values measured by
the authors. The heat transfer rates as predicted by
the theory exhibit the same trend and the same orders
of magnitude as those of experimental data reported
in the literature's,8).

Analysis
A flat vertical plate situated a t a temperature
higher than that of the liquid film falling freely
along the plate under the action of gravity against
the shear resistance a t the wall is considered. Vaporization is supposed to take place at the vapor-liquid
interface under non-nucleating conditions. Very recently Oosthuizen and Cheung"" have conducted experiments with an electrically heated cylinder cooled
by falling water films. They observed that from the
film distributor exit the flow passes through laminar,
wavy-laminar, transitional and fully turbulent regimes. They'l'' concluded that large variations in the
heat transfer rate along the surface arise due to
changes in the type of flow within the film.
The present analysis applies t o fully developed turbulent film flow away from the film forming device.
The shear stress$-distribution a t the interface can
be obtained by a force balance as
T/T,

1-

0 Y+/ '6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

where rw = 6 p ~ g ; @= 1 -

b2 Y+'.

...................................

+ ~ ~ ) d u / d. .Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

= p ~ ( u

. (3)

Substitution of Equation (1) and (2) in Equation

(3) yields the velocity profile
tan-l(bY+)
b

U+ =

26+ ba

In ( 1

+ bZ Y+2). .......(4)

the boundary condition being a+ = 0 a t Y + = 0.

Reichardt's expression of eddy diffusivity" of momentum in the turbulent regime is modified for the
configuration under consideration as follows :
~M
V

=
'

Y+

[3+4(+-)

[2

+ +]

+2

(q
J

(5)

where KI is the universal mixing constant, its value

being 0.4.

For Y+ 2 30, the velocity profile can be obtained by

solving the Equation (6) subject to the conditions u+ =
ua+da t Y+ = 30 (where u:: can be obtained from Equation
4) :

The velocity profiles is as follows:

(2)

where b = 0.091.
It is relevant to point out that no direct information is available concerning the effect of surface
tension variations on the film-structure parameters"s'.
Nevertheless, Borodin and
employed the eddy
diffusivity expression of Mills and Chung(la' while
analysing the temperature profiles along the flow
direction of the wavy-laminar falling films. Recently
Brumfield and Theofanous"" considered the turbulent
liquid films as being composed of a base film next

732

to the wall over which turbulent waves flow. In our

analysis, neglecting the wave structure* of the t u r bulent film, the local shear is given by

(1)

(T,L/T,)

Here, p assumes a value of unity for no drag condition a t the interface. For Y +5.30, the eddy diffusivity
expression is
E ~ / V=

530003, India

4Y+6+
36+2 -t 1206+

36+2

- l1n (

Ki

+ 2Y+Z
+ 1800

+ 13.41 + 128.6/6+. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(7)

Equation (7) suggests that the velocity profiles are

strongly dependent on the dimensionless film thick'
8 Figure 1 depicts the velocity distribution
ness .
across the film for various flow Reynolds numbers.
Further, the validity of Equations (4) and (7) can
be tested by obtaining +S = f(Re).Thus,
Re

[J30
0

u+ dY+

+ J & +U + dY+l. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8)

30

*See Appendix.

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol. 55, December, 1977

4- 4 (13.416+ - 258.0 +

....................

(9)

and for S + 1 3 0
17-

1 - In (1

+ b26f2)

+ (bz6+iG1)tan-l(bs+)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . (10)

However, Equation (9) is manipulated to the following explicit form which is very useful in the design calculations for turbulent falling films.
7
5
5

, , , . I

10

1000

100
Y+

Figure 1

- Effect of film Reynolds number on velocity profiles.

3000.
2000

1000 ?

a r , , , , 1

, r r - r r

Heat transfer equation in explicit form

PRESENT ANALYSIS [EGS 9 6 lo]

OATAOF BELKIN .d 01 [2]
DATA OF OUKLER 6BERGELIN [SI
DATA OBTAINED BY AUTHORS

A
0

6+ = 0.12 (4.0Re1/*+ e2'27 Re1/*).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(11)

Equation (10) and (11) or Equation (9) are plotted
in Figure 2 together with the experimental data obtained by the authors by photographic means. The
excellent agreement justifies the usefulness of the
Equations (10) and (11).

In the subsequent analysis, the case of a constant

heat flux under fully developed flow conditions will
be solved. The law governing the turbulent heat exchange is given by the expression

100 7

1 9 -

If the convective component of enthalpy in the flow

direction is neglected, we have
q = qw =

I10

100

1000
Re

10000

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(13)
For turbulent flow it is well known that EH =
when P r 2 1.0. Hence, following this assumption we
havecB'

Io5

Figure 2 - Film thickness vs Reynolds number.

-e H=
V

- - - - - - __ - GARWIN L KELLY C61

0 .?--------

H+

NARAYANAMURTHY 4 SARMA-E0.[16)
-DO-

+x-"-

- _ -HERBERT L STERNS 171

- - -AHMED 4 KAPARTHI 111

[I01

EO (11) Ll01

qw =

1111

0 t--*--I-WILKE

Ms ADAMS le3
OF CHUN L SEDAN C31

DATA OF

DATA

K (Tw - [ T y + = 5 )
5

(g6+/~')'/3..

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(15)

PRESENT ANALYSIS
0

0.36 Y+when Y+ 2 30... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..(14)

which is nothing but a modification of Equation ( 5 )

and for 5 IY +5 30, we use Equation (2). For the
sublayer region, 0 IY +I5, wherein molecular conduction accounts for the transport of the heat energy,
we get

KJAMS LB]

0 6----Mc

Constant

0.11
103

Re

Figure 3 - Comparison of experimental data.

where TY = 5 is the temperature of the fluid at

Y += 5. Similarly, for 5 S Y +5 30 we account for
both molecular as well as eddy diffusivity mechanism
of turbulent transport of heat energy. Thus,
................

Substituting profiles (4) and (7) in Equation (8)

we arrive at for 6+ 2 30,

After integration within proper limits, we get

[tan-' 3 0 b a - tan-' 5 b d g l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. (17)

For the region, Y + > 30, we have

qw

= -

The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, VoZ. 55, December, 1977

K (0.36 Y+)P7 -.dT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

dY

(18)

733

TABLE
1
TABLE
SHOWING THE AVAILABLE
EQUATIONS
TO PREDICT THE HEATTRANSFER
RATESI N TURBULENT
FALLING
FILMS

s1.

Equation

Remarks

No.

Author and Source

1.

McAdams, W. H., Drew, T. B.,

and Bays, G. S. ( 8 ) (1940)

H+

2.

Garwin, L. and Kelly, E. W.(6)

(1955)

Hi = 0.02007 ReV

3.

Wilke, W.

4.

Ahmed, S. Y. and Kaparthi,

R(') (1963)

H+

5.

Herbert, L S. and Sterns,

U. J.(7) (1968)

H+ = 0.0008539 ReO.06

Measured local heat transfer coefficients in the range of

Re, 3,000 to 20,000 for non-boiling heat transfer to water
flowing down the inside of a copper tube of I.D. 2.408 cm
a t a mean liquid film temperature of approximately 71C

6.

Chun, K. R., andSeban, R . A.(3)

(1971)

H+ = 3.8 x 10-3 ReO.4 Pro.46

Experimentally investigated the falling film evaporator

under turbulent flow conditions with a water film running
down the surface of an electrically heated vertical tube for
saturation temperatures in the range of 28 to 100C and
with overall Re range of 320 to 21,000.

7.

Narayana Murthy, V. and

Sarma, P. K.(lO) (1973)

H+

H+

Theoretical expressions to predict heat transfer rates in

explicit form were established by making use of some of
the available hydrodynamic aspects of falling liquid films
for Prandtl number greater than 1 and 6+ < 60 on the
basis of simple analogy.

(I1)

Presented heat transfer data for heating water as it flows

by gravity in turbulent motion down the inner walls of
copper pipes; range of Re is 1600 to 50,000; mean water
film temperature 88C.

0.01 (Re)1/3PrV3

Studies were made on a flat plate 1 m long over wide range

of angles of inclination and Re from 2,900 to 12,800 a t a
mean liquid film temperature of 34C
Presented results for heating without evaporation of falling
films of water and mixtures of water and ethylene glycol on
the outside of a 4.2 cm diameter metal rod 2.4 m long which
was heated internally by hot water.

(1962)

0.00692 Re0-346 PrO.4

Film thickness and rates of heat transfer of water and

aqueous glycerol solutions flowing down the inside surface
of a copper tube of I.D. 3.015 Cm were obtained experimentally for Re ranging from 3 to 10,250 and P7 from 3.6
to 950.

0.03685 Re7124 Pr'P

tan-' (0.00459ReV P7V
0.01235 Re'13 PrV

_
.

When Equation (18) is integrated between the limits

T
T
Tyf-30

=
=

T Y + = Q O a t Y+ = 30
a t Y+ = fj+

Ty+,a+

Ty+=a+ =

and
we get

4w

0.36 Pr K u*

In (S+/30). .. . . . . . . .(19)

From Equations (15), (17), and (19) we get after

rearrangement of the terms

5+-

h f i

6+'/3

. . . . . . . (20)

(tan-' 3 0 b d K - tan-' 5 b d P r )

where 6' is to be obtained from Equation (11) and

The value of y is 8/9, when we approximate the

velocity and temperature profiles by one-seventh power
law.
The present theoretical analysis enables us to conclude that the falling film dynamics can be successfully evaluated by using modified form of conventional eddy diffusivity expressions. The close
agreement between the experimental data obtained
by the authors and the theory regarding the dimensionless film thickness lends support to the usefulness
of Equations (10) and (11). For ready reference,
the various equations reported in literature for heat
transfer rates in turbulent falling liquid films are
shown in Table-1. Heat transfer results obtained
from Equation (20) were presented in Figure 3, for
P r = 5 from which it is obvious that the present
analysis exhibits the same trend and orders of magnitude a s those of experimental data reported in
the literature.

y is the temperature correction factor. Generally we

define
qw

conclusions
=

h (Tw -

TB)

where TBis the mean bulk temperature. I n our analysis

we defined qw = h ( Tw- T,). As such, for a comparison
of this analysis with the experimental data, we have
to introduce the correction factor.

734

i) The modified version of Martinelli's analogy as

applied to turbulent falling films has yielded
an expression in explicit form.
ii) Equations (11) and (20) are useful in designing
the falling film evaporators.
iii) The expression for eddy mass diffusivity of
Mills and Chung"") is further tested for the case
of turbulent falling films with heat transfer.
It is observed t h a t the resulting expression to
predict heat transfer rates does not correspond
to the actual situation as experimentally observed.

The Cunudian Iournal

of

Chemical Engineering, Vol. 5 5 , December, 1977

APPENDIX

Nommlatwre

In a recent paper Mflls and Chung"') derived a n expression for eddy mass diffusivity which includes the
influence of surface tension f orces (Kapitza number)
In falling films the presence of capillary waves gives
riee to surface tension forces. Hence, the purpose of
the present appendix is to test whether the eddy mass
diffusivity expression gives rise to a meaningful relation to predict heat transfer rates in falling films.
Equation ( 1 3 ) can be written as
(183144).

C,

= constant in Equation (A-3)

= specific heat a t constant pressure

5h

=
=
=

H+

K
K,
q

T
u
u+

or
. (A-1)

u*
Y
Y+
Re
Ku
Pr
a

where

6+

. (A-2)

EM

EH

y
p

2%-

A Ku-l Re1.6786 +*I3 [l - ( Y + / 6 + ) I 2..... . . . (A-3)

= 6.47

lo-'

and Ka(Kapitza Number) = ( a /

p ga v ' ' ~ ) . However, Borodin and
chose a value
of 2.59 x lo9 for A in their theoretical analyses to compare the observed temperature profiles with the computations. Substitutinr Eauation (A-3) in Eauation (A-2) we
get after integration -within proper limits
where A

6+

[sin-'

(--)

A - 1

2dx-

where A
and

6+

%] . .

, ,

. . .(A-4)

+($)113

=
=

=
=
=

=
=
=
=
=
=
=

universal mixing constant (= 0.4)

heat flux densi6
temperature
velocity
dimensionless velocity
shear velocity
distance from the wall
dimensionless distance parameter
Reynolds number (= 4G/p)
Kapitza number
Prandtl number
thermal diffusivity of the liquid
film thickness
dimensionless film thickness
Eddy diffusivity of momentum
Eddy diffusivity of Heat
temperature correction factor
dynamic viscosity
kinematic viscosity
density
surface tension
shear stress

Subscribts
=
=
=

interface
liquid
wall

References
Y. and Kaparthl. R., Ind. J. Tech. 1. 377 (1963).
H MacLeod A. A., Monrad. C. C. and Rothfus,
R. R.'AIChE"J. 6. 246 '(1969).
(3) Chun K R. and Sehan R. A., Trans. ASME, J. Heat Transfer
Ser. 'c, '93, 891 1971):
(4) Dukler A. E.. C6em. Eng. Prog. 66 62 (1969).
(6) Dukler: A. E. and Bergelin, 0. P., bhem. Eng. Prog. 48, 667
1) Ahmed, S.
2) Belkin H

(1962).
(6) Garwin, L. and Kelly, E. W.,Ind. Ens. Chem. Fundam. 47.
392 (1966).
(7) Herbert, L. S. and Sterns, U. J., Can. J. Chem. Eng. 46.
401 (1968).
(8) McAdams, W. H.,Drew, T. B. and Bays, G. S., Trans. ASME
62, 627 (1940).
(9) Mizushina, T., Ito. R. and Opine F., Heat Transfer 1970,

A Ku-l ReIeB786+4/3 Pr

=
=
=
=

p
u

= thermal conductivity

=
=
=
=

k o m Ref."*) we have

acceleration due to gravity

discharge rate per unit width of the plate
heat transfer coefficient
dimensionless heat transfer coefficient =

~ i * ~ /v g

Thus, from Equations (A-4) and (A-1)we get

Elsevier

Amsterdam. Vol. 11, FC2:8, 4th Int. Heat Transfer

Thus, it is obvious from Equation (A-5) that the heat

transfer coefficient is proportional to Re0.s*9which is f a r
from reality as observed by many investigators (See
Table -1).

Conf Paris (1970).

(10) Nar&narnurthy,
V. and Sarma, P. K., J. Chem. Ens. Japan
6, No. 6, 467 (1973).
(11) Wilke, W., Ver. Deut. Ingr., Forschunmh. 490 (1962).
(12) Mills, A. J.. and Chung, D. K., Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer
16, 694 (1973).
(13) Haigh, C. P., M.Sc. Thesis Univ. Birmingham (1966).
(14) Borodin, A. S. and Picot, *J. J. C., Can, J. Chem. Eng. 54.
69 (1976).
(16) Oosthuazen P. H. and Cheung, T., Trans. ASME. J. Heat
Transfer 6 9 162 (1977).
K. and Theofanous, T. G., Trans. ASME. J.
(16) Brumfield
Heat Trahsfer 98. 496 (1976).

Acknowledgments

Manuscript received
August 7. 1977.

. (A-5)

i.

The authors thank the reviewers for the very constructive comments.

The Canadian Iournal of Chemical Engz'laeen'ng, Vol. 55, December, 1977

July

14,

1976 ; accepted

* * *

for

publication

735