Numerical analysis of multistage ultrasonic atomization enhanced ammonia-water falling film absorption

The absorption refrigeration system is a widely used system that utilizes waste heat and is environmentally friendly. However, many current systems still suffer from challenges such as large volume, and high initial investment. Meanwhile, optimizing the absorber is crucial for enhancing system performance as it is one of the main components. In this study, a novel absorber model is proposed and its influencing factors of performance are comprehensively analyzed. In this model, the traditional falling film absorber is divided into multiple stages, with an ultrasonic atomizer (UA) installed in each stage to enhance absorption. In each stage, falling film and atomization absorption occur simultaneously, and their outputs are combined and weighted at the exit to maintain continuous droplet absorption, effectively utilizing the entire absorber volume. In this process, the vapor-liquid contact area is increased through atomization, and simultaneously, generated heat is removed by the cooling water during mixing. As a result, the absorber's absorption capacity increases, and the outlet solution temperature decreases. The results demonstrate that compared to the traditional falling film absorber, the proposed absorber, when divided into two stages with a droplet diameter of 50 mu m and an atomization rate x = 0.7, shows a 60.64 % increase in ammonia absorbed rate. Additionally, compared to double-stage absorber, triple-stage absorber increases the ammonia absorption by 9.52 %. As the number of stages increased, the strengthening effect persisted, albeit with a gradually diminishing rate of increase. Scaling up to ten stages results in a 152.63 % absorption rate increase and a size optimization of 60.43 %. In this paper, multi-stage ultrasonic atomization is innovatively introduced into the falling film absorber, which enhances ammonia absorption and reduces the volume of the absorber. Additionally, the multi-stage atomization offers an innovative method to improve the droplet absorption process.