Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in Gas‐Liquid‐Solid Circulating Fluidized Beds

Although extensive work has been performed on the hydrodynamics and gas‐liquid mass transfer in conventional three‐phase fluidized beds, relevant documented reports on gas‐liquid‐solid circulating fluidized beds (GLSCFBs) are scarce. In this work, the radial distribution of gas and solid holdups were investigated at two axial positions in a GLSCFB. The results show that gas bubbles and solid particles distribute uniformly in the axial direction but non‐uniformly in the radial direction. The radial non‐uniformity demonstrates a strong factor on the gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficients. A local mass transfer model is proposed to describe the gas‐liquid mass transfer at various radial positions. The local mass transfer coefficients appear to be symmetric about the central line of the riser with a lower value in the wall region. The effects of gas flow rates, particle circulating rates and liquid velocities on gas‐liquid mass transfer have also been investigated.     

Gas‐Liquid Mass Transfer in a Slurry Bubble Column at High Slurry Concentrations and High Gas Velocities

The volumetric mass transfer coefficient k_La in a 0.1 m‐diameter bubble column was studied for an air‐slurry system. A C₉‐C₁₁ n‐paraffin oil was employed as the liquid phase with fine alumina catalyst carrier particles used as the solid phase. The n‐paraffin oil had properties similar to those of the liquid phase in a commercial Fischer‐Tropsch reactor under reaction conditions. The superficial gas velocity U_G was varied in the range of 0.01 to 0.8 m/s, spanning both the homogeneous and heterogeneous flow regimes. The slurry concentration ?_S ranged from 0 to 0.5. The experimental results obtained show that the gas hold‐up ?_G decreases with an increase in slurry concentration, with this decrease being most significant when ?_S < 0.2. k_La/?_G was found to be practically independent of the superficial gas velocity when U_G > 0.1 m/s is taking on values predominantly between 0.4 and 0.6 s^–1 when ?_S = 0.1 to 0.4, and 0.29 s^–1, when ?_S = 0.5. This study provides a practical means for estimating the volumetric mass transfer coefficient k_La in an industrial‐size bubble column slurry reactor, with a particular focus on the Fischer‐Tropsch process as well as high gas velocities and high slurry concentrations.     

Studies on the Hydrodynamics of Chaotic Bubbling in a Gas‐Liquid Bubble Column with a Single Nozzle

In this work, the chaotic bubbling mechanism in a gas‐liquid bubble column with a single nozzle was investigated. The signal for the analysis was the time series of pressure fluctuations measured from a pressure transducer probe placed in the bubble column close to the nozzle. In order to study the bubbling process, statistical analysis, qualitative and quantitative nonlinear analyses were carried out for the pressure fluctuations. Power spectra used as standard statistical measures provided preliminary evidence that bubbling in the middle values of gas flow rates may be chaotic in nature. Phase plots provided a qualitative means of analyzing the fine geometry structure of the attractor reconstructed from the bubbling time signal. Positive finite estimates of the Kolmogorov entropy provided a quantitative evidence of behavior consistent with chaos. Besides previous diagnostic tools, the local nonlinear short‐term prediction was also used as a supplement method. It was found that the bubbling process exhibits a deterministic chaotic behavior in a certain range of the gas flow rate. When increasing the gas flow rate, the sequence of periodic bubbling, primary and advanced chaotic bubbling, and jetting or random bubbling were successively observed. However, no clear period doubling sequence leading to chaotic behavior was observed. The sharp loss of the ability to predict the pressure signal successfully with the nonlinear prediction method provides the strongest evidence of the presence of the chaotic bubbling. The variations of the nonlinear invariants, such as the Kolmogorov entropy and the correlation dimension together with the plot of the correlation integral with the operation conditions, might be developed as potential and effective quantitative tools for flow regime identification of the bubbling process.     

Experimental Study of Oxygen Mass Transfer Coefficient in Bubble Column with High Temperature and High Pressure

The volumetric gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficient, k_Lα, for oxygen was studied by using the dynamic method in slurry bubble column reactors with high temperature and high pressure. The effects of temperature, pressure, superficial gas velocity and solids concentration on the mass transfer coefficient are systemically discussed. Experimental results show that the gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficient increases with the increase in pressure, temperature, and superficial gas velocity, and decreases with the increase in solids concentration. Moreover, k_Lα values in a large bubble column are slightly higher than those in a small one at certain operating conditions. According to the analysis of experimental data, an empirical correlation is obtained to calculate the values of the oxygen volumetric mass transfer coefficient for a water‐quartz sand system in two bubble columns with different diameter at high temperature and high pressure.     

Improving Gas‐Liquid Mass Transfer in Bubble Columns by Applying Low‐Frequency Vibrations

We show that application of low‐frequency vibrations, in the 50–200 Hz range, to the liquid phase of an air‐water bubble column causes significantly smaller bubbles to be generated at the distributor plate. For bubble column operation in the homogeneous flow regime, measurements of the volumetric mass transfer coefficient using the oxygen absorption technique show that the increase in the k_La values ranges from 50–100 % depending on the flow rate. It is concluded that application of low‐frequency vibration has the potential of improving the performance of bubble columns.     

Gas Holdup and Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient in a Slurry Bubble Column

The gas holdup, ?, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k_La, were measured in a 0.051 m diameter glass column with ethanol as the liquid phase and cobalt catalyst as the solid phase in concentrations of 1.0 and 3.8 vol.‐%. The superficial gas velocity U was varied in the range from 0 to 0.11 m/s, spanning both the homogeneous and heterogeneous flow regimes. Experimental results show that increasing catalyst concentration decreases the gas holdup to a significant extent. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k_La, closely follows the trend in gas holdup. Above a superficial gas velocity of 0.04 m/s the value of k_La/? was found to be practically independent of slurry concentration and the gas velocity U; the value of this parameter is found to be about 0.45 s^–1. Our studies provide a simple method for the estimation of k_La in industrial‐size bubble column slurry reactors.     

Gas Sparger Orifice Sizes and Solid Particle Characteristics in a Bubble Column – Relative Effect on Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer

The relative effects of the size of gas sparger orifices and properties of solid particles on gas‐liquid mass transfer are not yet fully understood. Here, the impact of sparger orifice sizes, solid particle shapes, and their loading amounts in a bubble column reactor on the absorption of oxygen in tap water was investigated. Their influence on the mass transfer coefficient and bubble hydrodynamic parameters was evaluated. The results show that the addition of solid particles can have both positive and negative effects on hydrodynamics and mass transfer, depending on the orifice size of the gas sparger. The introduction of ring‐shaped solid particles can improve the mass transfer rate by up to 28 % without requiring any significant additional power.     

A Simple Approach to Measuring the Gas Phase Heat and Mass Transfer Coefficients in a Bubble Column

A simple experimental approach was developed to measure the gas phase volumetric heat and mass transfer coefficients in a bubble column and a slurry bubble column employing a single gas nozzle. The experimental technique was based on a transfer model that simulates humidification and direct contact evaporation models in the case of a gas bubble rising in a liquid of uniform temperature. The temperature and relative humidity of the inlet and outlet gas in the column are the only measurements required in this technique. Experiments were carried out in a 0.15 m inner diameter column using water as the liquid phase, air as the gas phase, and cation resins of 0.1 mm diameter and a specific gravity of 1.2, as the solid phase. The results showed that, when using solid concentrations in the range of 7–10 wt %, both the volumetric gas‐phase heat and mass transfer coefficients increased with an increase in the gas superficial velocity and were further enhanced by increasing the solid load after a certain minimum superficial velocity had been reached in the column (0.044 m/s in the system used). Increasing the solid load beyond 10 wt %, did not contribute to a further increase in these coefficients. Furthermore, the gas holdup in the column increased with the superficial gas velocity and was further enhanced when the solid‐phase load was in the range of 7–10 wt %. These observations agree well with previously reported findings by other investigators.     

Mass Transfer Coefficients in Mechanically Agitated Gas‐Liquid Contactors

There are a large number of correlations given in literature for the prediction of volume‐related liquid‐side mass transfer coefficients in mechanically agitated gas‐liquid contactors. Significant disagreement can be observed concerning the proposed correlations, so that no single correlation exists representing all of the mass transfer data given in the literature. The observed differences can mainly be ascribed to the differences in the geometry of the system, the range of operational conditions and the measurement method used. On the basis of a comparative study of mass transfer phenomena in agitated Newtonian and non‐Newtonian aerated liquids, a critical discussion of the literature results is presented in this review article, so that final conclusions can be drawn for the k_Lα values in the different single‐ and multiple‐impeller agitated systems studied in the literature.     

Comparison of Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in Airlift and Bubble Column Reactors Using CFD

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to compare the hydrodynamics and mass transfer of an internal airlift reactor with that of a bubble column reactor, operating with an air/water system in the homogeneous bubble flow regime. The liquid circulation velocities are significantly higher in the airlift configuration than in bubble columns, leading to significantly lower gas holdups. Within the riser of the airlift, the gas and liquid phases are virtually in plug flow, whereas in bubble columns the gas and liquid phases follow parabolic velocity distributions. When compared at the same superficial gas velocity, the volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k_La, for an airlift is significantly lower than that for a bubble column. However, when the results are compared at the same values of gas holdup, the values of k_La are practically identical.     

Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient in non‐Newtonian Fluids in Spout Fluid Beds

The volumetric liquid‐phase mass transfer coefficient, k_La, was determined by absorption of oxygen in air using six different carboxy‐methyl cellulose (CMC) solutions with different rheological values in three phase spout‐fluid beds operated continuously with respect to both gas and liquid. Three cylindrical columns of 7.4 cm, 11.4 cm, and 14.4 cm diameters were used. Gas velocity was varied between 0.00154–0.00563 m/s, liquid velocity between 0.0116–0.0387 m/s, surface tension between 0.00416–0.0189 N/m, static bed height between 6.0–10.8 cm, and spherical glass particles of 1.75 mm diameter were used as packing material. A single nozzle sparger of 1.0 cm diameter was used in the spouting line. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient was found to increase with gas velocity, liquid velocity, and static bed height and to decrease with the increase of the effective liquid viscosity of the CMC solution. A dimensionless correlation was developed and compared with those listed in the literature.     

Mass Transfer in a Flat Gas/Liquid Interface using non‐Newtonian Media

Gas/liquid mass transfer has been investigated using a stirred vessel gas/liquid contactor using non‐Newtonian media and carbon dioxide as absorbent and gas phase, respectively. The volumetric mass transfer coefficients at different operational variables have been determined. Non‐Newtonian media (liquid phase) were prepared as aqueous solutions of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose salt. The influence of the rheological properties, polymer concentration, stirring rate, and gas flow rate on mass transfer was studied for these liquid phases. Kinematic viscosity and density experimental data were used to calculate the average molecular weight corresponding to the polymer employed. The Ostwald model has been used to fit the rheological behavior of aqueous solutions of the polymer employed as absorbent phase. Reasonably good agreement was found between the predictions of the proposed models and the experimental data of mass transfer coefficients.     

Effect of Ethylene Glycol on the CO2/Water Gas‐Liquid Mass Transfer Process

The effect caused by the presence of ethylene glycol on the gas‐liquid mass transfer velocity of CO₂ in a aqueous phase has been studied. In this study two different gas‐liquid contactors have been used, a bubbling stirred reactor and a flat surface stirred vessel. The first contactor, gas phase, was introduced using a porous bubbling plate. The influence of operational variables, stirring rate, gas flow rate and ethylene glycol concentration were studied. The experiments were carried out at 298.15 K using a semicontinuous regime. The final aim was to obtain empirical equations that allow the calculation of the mass transfer velocity for this system a priori.     

New Packings for Operation at Extremely Low Liquid Superficial Velocity

It is well known that the column apparatuses operating at full countercurrent flow ensure maximum driving force for mass transfer when equilibrium processes are used. It is also known, from the mass balance, that the ratio between gas and liquid superficial velocity, in case of countercurrent flow, is determined from the initial and end concentrations of the absorbed component in both phases. In many cases, especially in purification of waste gases, when the initial gas concentration is very low and its solubility is high, the necessary calculated liquid superficial velocity is extremely low. The lack of packings able to operate effectively at these conditions requires a division of the packing bed into layers with recirculation of the liquid phase in each of them, i.e., a refusal of the principle of complete countercurrent flow takes place. The paper shows the possibility to use this principle even at extremely low liquid superficial velocity.     

Heat Transfer from Immersed Vertical Cylinders in Gas‐Liquid and Gas‐Liquid‐Solid Fluidized Beds

The heat transfer coefficient, h, was measured using a cylindrical heater vertically immersed in liquid‐solid and gas‐liquid‐solid fluidized beds. The gas used was air and the liquids used were water and 0.7 and 1.5 wt‐% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) aqueous solutions. The fluidized particles were sieved glass beads with 0.25, 0.5, 1.1, 2.6, and 5.2 mm average diameters. We tried to obtain unified dimensionless correlations for the cylinder surface‐to‐liquid heat transfer coefficients in the liquid‐solid and gas‐liquid‐solid fluidized beds. In the first approach, the heat transfer coefficients were successfully correlated in a unified formula in terms of a modified j_H‐factor and the modified liquid Reynolds number considering the effect of spatial expansion for the fluidized bed within an error of 36.1 %. In the second approach, the heat transfer coefficients were also correlated in a unified formula in terms of the dimensionless quantities, Nu/Pr^1/3, and the specific power group including energy dissipation rate per unit mass of liquid, E^1/3D^4/3/ν_l, within a smaller error of 24.7 %. It is also confirmed that a good analogy exists between the surface‐to‐liquid heat transfer and mass transfer on the immersed cylinder in the liquid‐solid and gas‐liquid‐solid fluidization systems.     

气体搅拌的萃取塔气—液—液系统流体力学性能和传质特性

１引言采用机械搅拌的萃取塔已广泛地应用在石油和化学工业生产中。近年来,一些研究学者又开发了用气体进行搅拌的萃取过程［１～３］,与机械搅拌相比,采用气体搅拌具有塔内无运动部件、操作稳定、结构简单、能耗低等特点,无疑给操作带来方便。如果在塔内装入静态混合...     

Impinging-Jet Ozone Bubble Column Modeling: Hydrodynamics,Gas Hold-up,Bubble Characteristics,and Ozone Mass Transfer

A transient back flow cell model was used to model the hydrodynamic behaviour of an impinging-jet ozone bubble column. A steady-state back flow cell model was developed to analyze the dissolved ozone concentration profiles measured in the bubble column. The column-average overall mass transfer coefficient, k_La (s^?1), was found to be dependent on the superficial gas and liquid velocities, u_G (m.s^?1) and u_L (m.s^?1), respectively, as follows: k_La?=?55.58 · u_G ^1.26· u_L ^0.08 . The specific interfacial area, a (m^?1), was determined as a = 3.61 × 10³ · u_G ^0.902 · u_L ^?0.038 by measuring the gas hold-up (ε _G?=?4.67 · u_G ^1.11 · u_L ^?0.05 ) and Sauter mean diameter, d_S (mm), of the bubbles (d_S?=?7.78 · u_G ^0.207 · u_L ^{? 0.008} ). The local mass transfer coefficient, k_L (m.s^?1), was then determined to be: k_L?=?15.40 · u_G ^0.354 · u_L ^0.118 .     

缩放型导流筒气升式内环流生物反应器流体力学与传质特性

从气相含率、液体循环速度和体积氧传质系数方面研究缩放型导流筒气升式内环流生物反应器内的流体力学与传质特性。实验结果表明,与传统圆柱形导流筒相比较,缩放型导流筒气相含率和体积氧传质系数分别提高８％和１０％以上。气相含率和体积氧传质系数随固含率的增加而提高,液体循环速度随固含率的增加而减小;同一内管反应器随介质粘度的增加,体积氧传质系数减小。此外还在Ｈｉｇｂｉｅ穿透理论和Ｋｏｌｏｍｏｇｏｒｏｆｆ各向同     

Two‐Phase Flow with Mass Transfer in Bubble Columns

Bubble columns are widely used in the chemical and biochemical industries. In these reactors a gaseous phase is dispersed into a continuous liquid phase thus the rising bubble swarm induces a circulating flow field. For the dimension of these reactors the local interfacial area and the residence time of the liquid and the gaseous phase are key parameters. In this paper an Euler‐Euler approach is used to calculate the flow field in bubble columns numerically. Therefore a transport equation for the mean bubble volume based on a population balance equation approach is coupled with the balance equations for mass and momentum. The calculations are performed for three‐dimensional, instationary flow fields in cylindrical bubble columns considering the homogeneous and the heterogeneous flow regime. For the interphase mass transfer the physical absorption of the gaseous phase into the liquid is assumed. The back mixing in the gaseous and liquid phase is calculated from the local and time dependent concentration of a tracer.