Effect of bend separation distance on the mass transfer in back-to-back pipe bends arranged in a 180° configuration

The mass transfer to turbulent flow through back-to-back pipe bends arranged in a 180° configuration with different lengths of pipe between the bends was measured using a dissolving gypsum test section in water. The measurements were performed for bends with a radius of curvature of 1.5 times the pipe diameter (D) at a Reynolds numbers of 70,000 and Schmidt number of 1280. The maximum mass transfer in the bends decreased from approximately 1.8 times the mass transfer in the upstream pipe when there was no separation distance between the bends to 1.7 times when there was a 1D or 5D length of pipe between the bends. The location of the maximum mass transfer was on the inner sidewall downstream of the second bend when there was no separation distance between the bends. This location changed to the inner wall at the beginning of the second bend when there was a 1D long pipe between the bends, and to the inner sidewall at the end of the first bend when there was a 5D long pipe between the bends.