A mechanistic zonal model of gas–liquid mass transfer for distillation intensified by micro‐scale interfacial vortexes

Abstract The complex interplay between strut‐induced micro‐scale vortexes and the gas–liquid interface fundamentally dictates the mass transfer performance of structured foam packings. However, a mechanistic understanding and accurate modeling of this localized intensification remain elusive. This work integrates high‐fidelity computational fluid dynamics simulations based on real foam geometries with theoretical modeling to elucidate these phenomena. We propose a novel mechanistic zonal mass transfer model that explicitly distinguishes between vortex‐dominated and vortex‐free interfacial zones, which explicitly incorporates local hydrodynamic parameters, such as vorticity and turbulent dissipation rate, to quantify surface renewal intensity. Comparative analysis against six classic models demonstrates that the proposed zonal approach offers superior prediction accuracy by correctly capturing the physics of vortex‐enhanced transport. The results reveal that stable micro‐scale interfacial vortexes significantly amplify the local mass‐transfer coefficient, particularly in the low liquid velocity regime ( U l ≤0.1 m/s). These findings provide a rigorous theoretical basis for optimizing next‐generation structured packings.