Combined free and forced convection mass transfer from a cylindrical cavity

A series of mass transfer experiments were conducted employing a helium injection technique to simulate the convection heat transfer losses from a cylindrical cavity located in a uniform flow. The results were correlated to account for the dependence of the mass transfer on free stream velocity and direction and on the geometrical parameters of the cavity.

The experimental findings of this study were compared with those from a naphthalene sublimation technique to determine the effects of natural convection on the mass transfer process. It is expected that correlations based on the present tests will be useful for predicting heat losses from small cavity type solar receivers using the analogy between heat and mass transfer.