1. Design of membrane humidifier using obstacles in the flow channels for ventilator
- Author
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Ebrahim Afshari, Pedram Shamsizadeh, and Mehdi Mosharaf-Dehkordi
- Subjects
Pressure drop ,Thermal efficiency ,Membrane ,Materials science ,Dew point ,Mass flow ,Flow (psychology) ,Energy Engineering and Power Technology ,Mechanics ,Water recovery ,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering ,Communication channel - Abstract
Inhalation gas humidification is a kind of major matter for patients using mechanical ventilation systems due to the necessity of keeping mucus layer at the suitable thickness and wetness. The performance of membrane humidifier with partially blocked gas channels, is investigated in this study. Three types of membrane humidifier channel arrangement, including a normal, wet channel with obstacles, and similar ones in both channels (wet and dry) are studied under various mass flow rates and temperatures. Flanged obstacles improve the thermal efficiency of the humidifier so that in this case the outlet dry air temperature can be increased about 4°by using 10 obstacles in both channels but they increase the pressure drop noticeably. PEC is calculated as a dimensionless parameter to compare the performance enhancement with pressure drop increment, simultaneously. Higher water recovery rate (WRR) and dew point temperatures at the dry side channel outlet, indicate the higher humidifier performance. At all mass flow rates, presence of obstacles improves the performance of the humidifier by increasing the dew point temperature and water recovery rate (WRR). Overall, the presence of obstacles on both channels amplifies the overall performance of the membrane humidifier in almost all cases.
- Published
- 2021
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