Study of Rising Liquid Film on Surface of Horizontal Metallic Mesh Tube

The formation of a rising liquid film on the surface of a horizontal metallic mesh tube in the presence of a temperature field is investigated. A numerical model is established to study the behavior of the rising liquid film. For thermocapillary flow, the velocity distribution of the liquid film is obtained numerically and the influences of wall temperature, geometry of the metallic mesh, and diameter of the tube on the formation of the rising liquid film are also investigated. The results indicate that the velocity of the rising liquid film is influenced by the diameter of the tube and the gap between the tube and the metallic mesh. The velocity of the rising liquid is obviously promoted due to the influence of thermocapillary flow. An experimental system was developed and comparisons between numerical solution and experimental results were made. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.