Considering roles of heat and mass transfer for increasing the ability of pressure drop models in venturi scrubbers

In this paper, the shortage effect of neglecting heat and mass transfer phenomena in mathematical descriptions of pressure drop through venturi scrubbers is studied. For this purpose, a descriptive model is presented with particular emphasis on the mass and energy equations. There is a correction factor introduced, for the first time, and correlated to improve the model predictions in the divergent section. The results indicate that pressure drop prediction is greatly affected by the simplified assumptions of the existing models. In fact, the occurrence of heat and mass transfer phenomena between two phases decreases the pressure drop intensively. Therefore, neglecting the undeniable effects of these phenomena will lead to some large errors. These errors are enhanced in higher gas temperatures, liquid, and gas flow rates, but the gas humidity has a negligible effect.