The Effect of Naturally Developing Roughness on the Mass Transfer in Pipes Under Different Reynolds Numbers

Abstract

The local mass transfer over dissolving surfaces was measured at pipe Reynolds number of 50,000, 100,000, and 200,000. Tests were run at multiple time periods for each Reynolds number using 203 mm diameter test sections that had gypsum linings dissolving to water in a closed flow loop at a Schmidt number of 1200. The local mass transfer was calculated from the decrease in thickness of the gypsum lining that was measured using X-ray-computed tomography (CT) scans. The range of Sherwood numbers for the developing roughness in the pipe was in good agreement with the previous studies. The mass transfer enhancement (Sh/Shs) was dependent on both the height (ep−v) and spacing (λstr) of the roughness scallops. For the developing roughness, two periods of mass transfer were present: (i) an initial period of rapid increase in enhancement when the density of scallops increases till the surface is spatially saturated with the scallops and (ii) a slower period of increase in enhancement beyond this point, where the streamwise spacing is approximately constant, and the roughness height grows more rapidly. The mass transfer enhancement was found to correlate well with the parameter (ep−v/λstr)0.2, with a weak dependence on Reynolds number.