Mass transfer characteristics in a channel with symmetric wavy wall were investigated by the Leveque theory and the electrochemical method. The channel used has a geometry similar to that of the Oxford membrane blood oxygenator. The flow regime covered ranged from laminar to turbulent flow.
The local Sherwood number distributions indicate that the reversed-flow region significantly differs from the forward-flow region in mass transfer characteristics. For laminar flow, mass transfer enhancement of the wavy channel is scarcely expected as compared with the corresponding straight channel, but is found to be remarkable for turbulent flow.