Hydrodynamics and oxygen mass transfer in a packed bed split-cylinder airlift reactor containing dilute alcoholic solutions

In this article, the influences of alcohols on the hydrodynamics and oxygen mass transfer characteristics in an airlift reactor equipped with packing were investigated. The hydrodynamic parameters and mass transfer coefficient in 1 % (v/v) aqueous solutions of four aliphatic alcohols were tested. It was concluded that alcohols addition increased gas holdup and gas–liquid mass transfer coefficient. The packing installation increased mass transfer coefficient, gas holdup and liquid circulation velocity, as well.     

Theoretical prediction of the mass transfer coefficients in bubble columns operating in churn-turbulent flow regime. Study in Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids under different operation conditions

 A comprehensive experimental study of the volumetric transfer coefficient k _L a with Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids in bubble columns using CO₂ as gas phase is the objective of this work. The evaluation of the hydrodynamic characteristics of the bubble columns and delineated the different hydrodynamic regimes considering column geometry, gas flow, liquid height and type of fluid (Newtonian and non-Newtonian) suggest a general applicability of the proposed model. An explanation about of the k _L a values in non-Newtonian fluid is offered take into account shear rate, column geometry, viscosity and results reported in the literature previously. Received on 31 July 1999     

Extrudate Trilobe Catalysts and Loading Effects on Pressure Drop and Dynamic Liquid Holdup in Porous Media of Trickle Bed Reactors

The hydrodynamics of concurrent gas-liquid downflow through a porous media of fixed bed reactor has been studied experimentally in a range of trickling flow rates. A pilot bed is packed with industrial spherical and extrudate trilobe catalysts. The industrial trilobe catalysts are packed in a bed using two different methods: random close or dense packing and random sock packing. The experiments are performed for single phase in the cases of wet and dry packed beds and for two-phase flow conditions. The comparisons of pressure drops as well as liquid holdup are carried out for the above three different porous media, random close, dense packing and random sock packing. It is shown that the pressure drop of the dense loaded bed is higher than that of spherical particles which have approximately the same porosity. The results also revealed that the bed porosity, shape and contact points of the loaded catalyst have significant effects on the dynamic liquid holdup of the TBRs. Finally, a new correlation was developed for dynamic liquid holdup and pressure drop calculation for trilobe dense and sock catalyst beds and beds which are loaded with spherical particles.     

Some hydrodynamic aspects of 3-phase inverse fluidized bed

Hydrodynamics of 3-phase inverse fluidized bed is studied experimentally using low density particles for different liquid and gas velocities. The hydrodynamic characteristics studied include pressure drop, minimum liquid and gas fluidization velocities and phase holdups. The minimum liquid fluidization velocity determined using the bed pressure gradient, decreases with increase in gas velocity. The axial profiles of phase holdups shows that the liquid holdup increases along the bed height, whereas the solid holdup decreases down the bed. However, the gas holdup is almost uniform in the bed.     

Experimental investigation of the influence of column scale,gas density and liquid properties on gas holdup in bubble columns

Measurements of gas holdups in bubble columns of 0.16, 0.30 and 0.33 m diameter were carried out. These columns were operated in co-current flow of gas and liquid phases and in semibatch mode. The column of 0.33 m diameter was operated at elevated pressures of up to 3.6 MPa. Nitrogen was employed as the gas phase and deionized water, aqueous solutions of ethanol and acetone and pure acetone and cumene as the liquid phase. The effects of differing liquid properties, gas density (due to elevated pressure), temperature, column diameter and superficial liquid velocity on gas holdup were studied. The gas holdup measurements were utilized by differential pressure measurements at different positions along the height of the bubble columns which allowed for the identification of axial gas holdup profiles. A decrease of gas holdup with increasing column diameter and an increase of gas holdup with increasing pressure was observed. The effect of a slightly decreasing gas holdup with increasing liquid velocity was found to exist at smaller column diameters. The use of organic solvents as the liquid phase resulted in a significant increase in gas holdup compared to deionized water. It is found that published gas holdup models are mostly unable to predict the results obtained in this study.     

Experimental investigation on heat transfer of forced convection condensation of ethanol–water vapor mixtures on a vertical mini-tube

In this paper, condensation heat transfer characteristics of ethanol–water vapor mixtures on a vertical mini-vertical tube with 1.221 mm outside diameter were investigated experimentally. The experiments were performed at different velocities and pressures over a wide range of ethanol mass fractions in vapor. The test results indicated that, with respect to the change of the vapor-to-surface temperature difference, the condensation curves of the heat transfer coefficients revealed nonlinear characteristics, and had peak values. At 2 % ethanol mass fraction in vapor, the condensation heat transfer coefficient value of the ethanol–water vapor mixture was found to have a maximum heat transfer coefficient of 50 kW m^?2 K^?1, which was 3–4 times than that of pure steam. The condensation heat transfer coefficients decreased with increased ethanol mass fraction in vapor. The vapor pressure and vapor velocity had a positive effect on the condensation heat transfer coefficients of ethanol–water vapor mixtures.     

The effect of aspect ratio in counter-current gas-liquid bubble columns: Experimental results and gas holdup correlations

It is generally admitted that the gas holdup is independent of the column dimensions and gas sparger design if three criteria are satisfied: the diameter of the bubble column is larger than 0.15 m, gas sparger openings are larger than 1–2 mm and the aspect ratio is larger than 5. This paper contributes to the existing discussion; in particular, the effect of the aspect ratio (within the range 1–15) in a counter-current gas-liquid bubble column has been experimentally studied and a new gas holdup correlation to estimate the influence of aspect ratio, operation mode and working fluid on the gas holdup has been proposed. The bubble column, equipped with a spider gas sparger, is 5.3 m in height, has an inner diameter of 0.24 m; gas superficial velocities in the range of 0.004–0.23 m/s have been considered, and, for the runs with water moving counter-currently to the gas phase, the liquid has been recirculated at a superficial velocity of −0.0846 m/s. Filtered air has been used as the gaseous phase in all the experiments, while the liquid phase has included tap water and different aqueous solutions of sodium chloride as electrolyte. Gas holdup measurements have been used to investigate the flow regime transitions and the global bubble column hydrodynamics. The counter-current mode has turned out to increase the gas holdup and destabilize the homogeneous flow regime; the presence of electrolytes has resulted in increasing the gas holdup and stabilizing the homogeneous flow regime; the aspect ratio, up to a critical value, has turned out to decrease the gas holdup and destabilize the homogeneous flow regime. The critical value of the aspect ratio ranged between 5 and 10, depending on the bubble column operation (i.e., batch or counter-current modes) and liquid phase properties. Since no correlation has been found in the literature that can correctly predict the gas holdup under the investigated conditions, a new scheme of gas holdup correlation has been proposed. Starting from considerations concerning the flow regime transition, corrective parameters are included in the gas holdup correlation to account for the effect of the changes introduced by the aspect ratio, operation mode and working fluid. The proposed correlation has been found to predict fairly well the present experimental data as well as previously published gas holdup data.     

Heat transfer and hydrodynamic studies on two- and three-phase fluidized beds of floating bubble breakers

Heat transfer characteristics in three-phase fluidized beds of floating bubble breakers have been studied in a 0.142 m I.D. x 2.0 m high Plexiglas column fitted with an axially mounted cylindrical heater.Effects of the liquid and gas velocities, the particle size, the volume ratio of floating bubble breaker to particles on phase holdup, the vertical bubble length, and the heat transfer coefficient have been determined.In the bubble-coalescing regime, the heat transfer coefficient in three-phase fluidized beds having the volume ratio V_f/V_s of 10–15% produced a maximum increase in heat transfer coefficient of about 20% in comparison to that in the bed without floating bubble breakers. Also, bubble length and gas-phase holdups exhibited their maximum and minimum values at a volume ratio of 10–15%. The heat transfer coefficient in three-phase fluidized beds of floating bubble breakers can be estimated from the surface renewal model with isotropic turbulence theory.Heat transfer coefficients expressed in terms of the Nusselt number have been correlated with the particle Reynolds number and the volume ratio of floating bubble breakers to particles.     

Experimental study on the influence of SO2 gas injection to pure liquids on pool boiling heat transfer coefficients

SO₂ gas is injected into the different pure liquids using new innovative method via meshed tubes. Many experiments have been performed to investigate the influence of gas injection process on the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of pure liquids around the horizontal cylinder at different heat fluxes up to 114 kW m^?2. Results demonstrate that presence of SO₂ gas into the vapor inside the bubbles creates a mass transfer driving force between the vapor phase inside the formed bubbles and liquid phase and also between the gas/liquid interfaces. Local turbulences and agitations due to the gas injection process around the nucleation sites leads the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient to be dramatically enhanced. Besides, some of earlier well-known correlations were unable to obtain the reasonable values for the pool boiling heat transfer coefficients in this particular case. Therefore, the most accurate correlation among the examined correlations was modified to estimate the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of pure liquids. Experimental data were in a good agreement with those of obtained by the new modified correlation with absolute average deviation of 10 %.     

Simplified model for mass diffusivity estimation based on dynamic pendant drop volume analysis

We present a simplified correlation for calculating the dissolved gas moles in a pendant drop during the diffusion time, for several drop shapes. After this correlation is determined, the Yang and Gu (Ind Eng Chem Res 44:4474–4483, 2005) dynamic pendant drop volume analysis (DPDVA) method for calculation of mass diffusivity from the pendant drop volume variation against time can be used. We solved the differential equation in cylindrical coordinates for the mass transfer model of the gas diffusion into the liquid inside the pendant drop, using a different characteristic length (L_C), instead of the outer radius of the syringe needle (r_n) used in Yang and Gu (Ind Eng Chem Res 44:4474–4483, 2005) for defining the dimensionless variables. L_C is the relationship between the pendant drop volume and its mass transfer surface area at the initial conditions. The generalized correlation saves time, simplifies the method application and the deviations in the diffusion coefficient calculation respect to the complete Yang and Gu model are below 6%.     

Estimating gas holdup via pressure difference measurements in a cocurrent bubble column

Estimating gas holdup via pressure difference measurements is a simple and low-cost non-invasive technique to study gas holdup in bubble columns. It is usually used in a manner where the wall shear stress effect is neglected, termed Method II in this paper. In cocurrent bubble columns, when the liquid velocity is high or the fluid is highly viscous, wall shear stress may be significant and Method II may result in substantial error. Directly including the wall shear stress term in the determination of gas holdup (Method I) requires knowledge of two-phase wall shear stress models and usually requires the solution of non-linear equations. A new gas holdup estimation method (Method III) via differential pressure measurements for cocurrent bubble columns is proposed in this paper. This method considers the wall shear stress influences on gas holdup values without calculating the wall shear stress. A detailed analysis shows that Method III always results in a smaller gas holdup error than Method II, and in many cases, the error is significantly smaller than that of Method II. The applicability of Method III in measuring gas holdup in a cocurrent air–water–fiber bubble column is examined. Analysis based on experimental data shows that with Method III, accurate gas holdup measurements can be obtained, while measurement error is significant when Method II is used for some operational conditions.     

Boiling heat transfer,pressure drop,and flow pattern in a horizontal square minichannel

This study experimentally investigated the flow boiling heat transfer, pressure drop, and flow pattern in a horizontal square minichannel with a hydraulic diameter of 2.0 mm, and the effects of mass flux, vapor quality, heat flux, and refrigerant properties on the flow boiling characteristics were clarified. The heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of R32 and R1234yf were measured in a mass flux range of 50–400 kgm⁻²s⁻¹ at a saturation temperature of 15 °C. The flow pattern of the square minichannel outlet was observed and was classified as plug, wavy, churn, and annular flows. The heat transfer coefficients in the square minichannel were larger than those in the circular minichannel with a similar hydraulic diameter at low mass flux conditions. The heat transfer coefficients of R32 indicated higher values compared with those of R1234yf at same mass flux and qualities. An empirical heat transfer model taking into account the forced convection, nucleate boiling, and thin liquid film evaporation was developed for horizontal square and circular minichannels. The frictional pressure drop of R32 was 1.5–2 times higher than that of R1234yf at same mass flux and vapor quality condition, and the effect of channel shape on the frictional pressure drop was small unlike the boiling heat transfer.     

Characterisation of gas-liquid two-phase flow in minichannels with co-flowing fluid injection inside the channel,part II: gas bubble and liquid slug lengths,film thickness,and void fraction within Taylor flow

Current research proofs the potential of apparatuses containing minichannel flow structures to intensify gas-liquid-solid contacting processes. The excellent heat and mass transfer in these devices as well as a sharp RTD mainly result from the Taylor flow regime. A proper design of corresponding contactors requires precise information on the provided interfacial areas. However, the characterisation of gas-liquid Taylor flow with industrially relevant fluids at elevated pressure and created by capillary injection devices gained little attention so far.This work analyses adiabatic gas-liquid Taylor flow in a square minichannel of 1.0 mm hydraulic diameter using water, water-glycerol, or water-ethanol mixtures as liquid phase and hydrogen or nitrogen as gas phase to cover a broad range of material parameters. In the mixing zone located within the flow channel, gas was injected into the co-flowing liquid by so-called capillary injectors with variable inner diameter (0.184, 0.317, 0.490 mm).Two different bubble forming mechanisms were identified leading to a complex interaction between physical properties of the fluids, geometrical parameters and the observed gas bubble and liquid slug lengths. According to the Pi-theorem, these lengths were affected by 6 dimensionless groups, namely (u_G,s/ u_L,s), Re_L, We_L, (d_In,CI/ d_h), (d_Ou,CI / d_h), and Θ^*. Based on more than 370 experimental data, novel correlations to predict gas bubble and liquid slug lengths were developed.     

Bubble generation and transport in a microfluidic device with high aspect ratio

Bubble generation and transport in a micro-device composed of a micro-T-junction and a following serpentine micro-channel was experimentally investigated. It has a rectangular cross-sectional with an aspect ratio of 7.425. Air and water were used as gas and liquid, respectively. Mixtures of water–glycerol and water–Tween-20 were used to study the effects of liquid viscosity and surface tension. Compared with previous T-junction bubble generation, the liquid and gas inlets orientation was switched in this work. The continuous flow was driven from the perpendicular channel and the dispersion flow was from the main channel. It shows that the break-up process has three periodic steps under certain operating conditions. The dimensionless bubble length L/w in the micro-channel with high aspect ratio is much larger than that in square microchannels. A correlation is proposed to correlate L/w with liquid flow rate J_L, gas flow rate J_G, and liquid viscosity μ_L. Surface tension σ can change the bubble shape but almost does not affect the bubble length in this fast break-up process. Additionally, a long bubble may be broken up at the corners at the same time because the locations of gas and liquid are exchanged relative to the concave and convex portions of an elbow after a turn which may result in the change of fluid velocities and gas–liquid pressure drop.     

Experimental investigation of solute transport in large,homogeneous and heterogeneous,saturated soil columns

Laboratory tracer experiments were conducted to investigate solute transport in 12.5-m long, horizontally placed soil columns during steady saturated water flow. Two columns having cross-sectional areas of 10×10cm² were used: a uniformly packed homogeneous sandy column and a heterogeneous column containing layered, mixed, and lenticular formations of various shapes and sizes. The heterogeneous soil column gradually changed, on average, from coarse-textured at one end to fine-textured at the other end. NaCl breakthrough curves (BTC's) in the columns were measured with electrical conductivity probes inserted at 50- or 100-cm intervals. Observed BTC's in the homogeneous sandy column were relatively smooth and sigmoidal (S-shaped), while those in the heterogeneous column were very irregular, nonsigmoidal, and exhibited extensive tailing. Effective average pore-water velocities (v _eff) and dispersion coefficients (D _eff) were estimated simultaneously by fitting an analytical solution of the convection-dispersion equation to the observed BTC's. Velocity variations in the heterogeneous medium were found to be much larger than those in the homogeneous sand. Values of the dispersivity,=D _eff/v _eff, for the homogeneous sandy column ranged from 0.1 to 5.0 cm, while those for the heterogeneous column were as high as 200cm. The dispersivity for transport in both columns increased with travel distance or travel time, thus exhibiting scale-dependency. The heterogeneous soil column also showed the effects of preferential flow, i.e., some locations in the column showed earlier solute breakthrough than several locations closer to the inlet boundary. Spatial fluctuations in the dispersivity could be explained qualitatively by the particular makeup of the heterogeneities in the column.     

Heat transfer through partitioned enclosures

A closed-form model for the computation of heat transfer rates through the rectangular-partitioned enclosures is investigated. The rectangular-partitioned enclosures may contain solid or gas with or without a constant and uniformly distributed heat generation. The conduction in the enclosures is considered as two-dimensional, whereas one-dimensional heat transfer through the fin-type partition is assumed. Dimensionless heat flux plots are parametrically studied by varying the aspect ratio (L/H) of the enclosure, the ratio of thermal conductivities of the enclosure to the fin-type partition (k _a /k _f ), the Biot number (β _a =h _a L/k _a ), and the reduced partition thickness (t ^*/L). It is demonstrated through an example problem that there is a large error in using one-dimensional analysis, particularly at lower values of k _a /k _f , and β _a .     

A critical review of dispersion in packed beds

The phenomenon of dispersion (transverse and longitudinal) in packed beds is summarized and reviewed for a great deal of information from the literature. Dispersion plays an important part, for example, in contaminant transport in ground water flows, in miscible displacement of oil and gas and in reactant and product transport in packed bed reactors. There are several variables that must be considered, in the analysis of dispersion in packed beds, like the length of the packed column, viscosity and density of the fluid, ratio of column diameter to particle diameter, ratio of column length to particle diameter, particle size distribution, particle shape, effect of fluid velocity and effect of temperature (or Schmidt number). Empirical correlations are presented for the prediction of the dispersion coefficients (D _T and D _L) over the entire range of practical values of Sc and Pe_m, and works on transverse and longitudinal dispersion of non-Newtonian fluids in packed beds are also considered.     

Characterization of countercurrent liquid-upward and solid-downward fluidized system

Acting as an operating mode of fluidization, the flow characteristics of a countercurrent liquid–solid fluidized bed (CCLSFB) were experimentally investigated using a Plexiglas column of 1.5 m in height. Countercurrent liquid-upward and solid-downward fluidization was achieved under a limited solid flowrate before flooding occurred.The “flooding” phenomena and the flooding velocity were identified by measuring the variations in pressure drop in the axial direction of the column. Two different methods were used to quantify the flooding point that led to the instability of the system. Axial solids holdup profiles were also obtained from the pressure drop data along the column and the influences of device structure and operating conditions on the solids holdup were also studied. Seven types of particles with different diameters and densities were used. An agreement was found between the experimental results and the mathematic prediction derived from the Richardson–Zaki equation on the data of the solids holdup.     

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF TWO-PHASE FLOW IN BUBBLE COLUMNS

A numerical model is described for the prediction of turbulent continuum equations for two-phase gas–liquid flows in bubble columns. The mathematical formulation is based on the solution of each phase. The two-phase model incorporates interfacial models of momentum transfer to account for the effects of virtual mass, lift, drag and pressure discontinuities at the gas–liquid interface. Turbulence is represented by means of a two-equation k–ϵ model modified to account for bubble-induced turbulence production. The numerical discretization is based on a staggered finite-volume approach, and the coupled equations are solved in a segregated manner using the IPSA method. The model is implemented generally in the multipurpose PHOENICS computer code, although the present appllications are restricted to two-dimensional flows. The model is applied to simulate two bubble column geometries and the predictions are compared with the measured circulation patterns and void fraction distributions.