Vacuum stripping of refrigerants in water sprays

The number of overall liquid transfer units as a function of the total pressure, flow rate, and nozzle height has been measured for the removal of butane and F‐22 refrigerants from water for a flat spray nozzle in a vacuum spray chamber. The number of transfer units increases with the flow rate and with the total pressure with the increase proportional to 0.2 power of the Weber number in which the gas density is used. NOL also increases linearly with length, but more than two‐thirds of the mass transfer always takes place in liquid sheet attached to the nozzle. Because the rate of mass transfer in a spray chamber is much greater than in a packed column, vacuum spray stripping is recommended for the removal of refrigerants from water and brine in the freezing and hydrate processes for desalination and other slightly soluble gases from aqueous solution in other processes.