Experimental Investigations on Measuring Falling Film Thickness on Vertical Plates with and without Copper Metal Foam

The significance of the liquid film thickness is paramount in various engineering applications involving heat and mass transfer.It is imperative to conduct dynamic investigations to comprehensively assess experimental performance and fine-tune operational parameters based on factors like flow rate, longitudinal shifts, temperature, and surface modification.This research focused on dynamically measuring the film thickness on a vertically positioned plate, both with and without surface modifications.Employing a Plate heater ensured consistent maintenance of the plate's centre temperature at a specific range.For the surface modification, a copper metal v foam with a pore count of 50 pores per inch (PPI) and a thickness measuring 0.1 cm was layered onto the vertical plate.Through dynamic analysis over a span of time, the evolution of film thickness characteristics across the vertical plate was scrutinized.Notably, it was observed that instances of higher flow rates correlated with more pronounced fluctuations in film thickness.The study delved into the impact of flow rates ranging from 0.9 lpm to 2.1 lpm on film thickness, revealing a direct relationshipan increase in flow rate resulted in increased film thickness.The inclusion of the metal foam in this investigation gave rise to intricate flow patterns characterized by tortuosity, boundary layer detachment, and reattachment.These outcomes facilitated enhanced intermixing.Plotting the variation in film thickness along the plate's length, spanning distances from 0 to 20 cm, disclosed insightful trends.The film thickness steadily increases to 5 cm along the plain plate and Copper metal foam plate length.The copper metal foam structure creates uniform dispersion across the surface, permitting effective operation at lower flow rates than a plain surface.