Studies on cocurrent gas-liquid flow in helically coiled tubes. I. Flow patterns,pressure drop and holdup

The effects of tube diameter, coil diameter, helix angle and liquid viscosity on flow patterns, pressure drop and holdup for cocurrent gas-liquid flow in helically coiled tubes have been investigated. Nine coils of varying coil diameter and helix angle have been used with liquids of three different viscosities and air at varying pressures. The effect of tube diameter on pressure drop and holdup was determined by using tubes of diameters up to 2-in. Flow patterns were adequately predicted for all the systems by Baker's plot. Small helix angles were found to have no effect on pressure drop or holdup in coiled tubes. Both pressure drop and holdup could be adequately correlated using the Lockhart-Martinelli approach with modified correlating parameters.     

A comprehensive study on co2-interphase mass transfer in vertical cocurrent and countercurrent gas-liquid flow

Cocurrent and countercurrent absorption and desorption of CO₂ in water was investigated in tall bubble columns (length 440 and 720 cm, diameter 15 and 20 cm, respectively). Operating conditions were applied which provided for high interphase mass transfer rates. Under these circumstances the relative gas holdup varies considerably with axial position whereas the mean bubble diameter measured at two points was found to be approximately constant. The measured data permit the calculation of local values of interfacial areas, superficial gas velocities, and frequency factors for bubble coalescence and break up. A dispersion model which takes into account the hydrostatic head and a variable gas velocity was applied to describe the measured concentration profiles in both phases. If increased mass transfer coefficients at the column bottom and measured local values of the hold up were used a striking agreement between experimental and predicted profiles could be obtained. The findings lead to a more sophisticated picture of the complex behaviour of gas-liquid dispersions at high interphase mass transfer rates.     

An analytical solution for mass transfer in turbulent falling films with or without chemical reaction

A simple analytical solution is presented for mass transfer in an isothermal turbulent falling liquid film with or without chemical reaction. The exact solutions are compared with previous work for the cases of physical absorption and first-order reaction. New solutions are presented for a zero-order reaction, and generalized results are presented for first and pseudo nth-order reactions. The method of superposition is used to generate the first ten eigenvalues and corresponding values of the Sherwood number for several limiting situations. The analytical solution offers substantial advantages over previous finite-difference numerical solutions both in computation time and in describing the effects of operating variables.     

Mass transfer without and with chemical reaction in dispersed gas-liquid two-phase flows

Using a concentric sphere model, velocity profiles around bubbles in a bubble swarm were derived for clean and for relatively contaminated gas bubbles. The theoretical Sherwood numbers were calculated, including the effect of void fraction. These mass transfer predictions were compared with experimental results for the absorption with reaction of carbon dioxide into monoethanolamine solutions. The results indicated an appreciable contamination of the bubbles by surface active material.     

On turbulent pipe flow with heat transfer and chemical reaction

A theoretical model has been developed to describe heat transfer to a fluid which is flowing turbulently in a pipe and within which a first-order endothermic irreversible chemical reaction is taking place. It is based on the penetration model for the fluid boundary layer close to the pipe wall and enables the calculation of the effect of chemical reaction on the heat transfer coefficient of turbulent pipe flow.The model has been checked against experimental results for flow distribution and heat transfer in turbulent pipe flow without chemical reaction. Good agreement between the calculated and experimental results was found. The measured heat transfer coefficients for turbulent pipe flow with a uniformly distributed heat source within the fluid were also well predicted. Unfortunately no accurate experimental data on the effect of a first-order chemical reaction on the heat transfer coefficient of turbulent pipe flow are available. However, calculations made with the model show that this effect can be considerable and thus may not always be neglected in practice.     

Fluid flow and mass transfer in a counter-current gas-liquid inclined tubes photo-bioreactor

A novel type of photo-bioreactor is being studied. The main feature in this system is the inclined tube in which most of the photosynthesis occurs. Two phase gas-liquid counter-current flow takes place in this environment. The flow configuration in the range of interest has not been described previously. The trajectories of the liquid phase are the target of the present work. These trajectories are needed for a proper mathematical representation of the process. Experimental studies where carried out using two methods: studying the response of the system to a pulse disturbance, and tracking an optical tracer with a system developed in our laboratory. The influence of tube inclination and of gas flow rates was studied. A rough compartmental model is presented, which fits the transient experimental data.The mass transfer rate from the gas phase to the liquid was studied since it is needed to assess the capacity of providing enough CO₂ to match the light captured by photosynthesis. Both gas holdup and mass transfer rates are reported as a function of tube inclination and gas flow rates.     

Interfacial area and mass transfer in gas-liquid cocurrent upflow and countercurrent flow in reciprocating plate column

The volumetric mass transfer coefficient and the interfacial area were measured for carbon dioxide absorption into water using a reciprocating plate column of plate geometry different from a Karr column. The specific interfacial area was governed by a change in bubble size at low agitation rates and by a variation in gas holdup at high agitation rates. The liquid phase mass transfer coefficient was strongly influenced by the agitation rate, the phase velocities and the plate geometry.     

Mass transfer at the confining wall of helically coiled circular tubes with gas–liquid flow and fluidized beds

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various dynamic and geometric parameters on mass transfer coefficients in two-phase helically coiled flow systems. Computation of mass transfer coefficients was facilitated by the measurement of limiting current at the electrodes fixed flush with the inner surface of the tube wall. Two flow systems were chosen: a two-phase liquid solid fluidized bed and a two-phase gas–liquid up flow. An equimolar potassium ferrocyanide and potassium ferricyanide solution in the presence of sodium hydroxide was used as the liquid phase. In the fluidized bed, glass spheres and sand of different sizes were employed as fluidizing solids. In two-phase flow system nitrogen was employed as inert gas. The pressure drop in the presence of fluidizing solids in helical coils was found to increase with increase in the pitch of the coil and was maximum for straight tube. The mass transfer coefficients were found to increase with increase in liquid velocity. The mass transfer coefficients in case of gas–liquid flow were found to be independent of liquid velocity and the pitch of the coil, and were largely influenced by gas velocity only. The data were correlated using j_D factor, Helical number, Froude number and Stanton number.     

Mass transfer and holdup in gas-liquid cocurrent flow packed beds containing water-repellent particles

Water-repellent particles were prepared by spraying polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on activated carbon. Gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient and holdup were determined in gas-liquid cocurrent upflow and downflow packed beds from the measurements of gas desorption and volume, respectively. As the PTFE loading increased, the gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficients in both upflow and downflow modes were enhanced. Gas holdup in the upflow mode increased with the PTFE loading, while the dynamic liquid holdup in the downflow mode decreased. The enhancement of the mass transfer rate from gas to liquid can be explained by the effect of water-repellency on the surface of activated carbon.     

旋流吸收器气液吸收传质过程研究

根据旋流吸收器中分散液相不同的运动形态建立了伴有化学反应的气液吸收传质模型,且该模型的表达形式与Danckwerts的表面更新理论一致。从模型上看,液侧传质系数kL正比于扩散系数DA和表面更新率S的平方根,这一正比关系还得到了实验结果的部分验证。根据实验结果可以看出,与其他吸收器相比,作为一种结构简单的静态设备,旋流吸收器同样可以提供一个强化传热、传质的流体力学环境。     

Mass transfer in cocurrent gas-liquid flow: Gas side mass transfer coefficients in upflow,interfacial areas and mass transfer coefficient in gas and liquid in downflow

A comparison of the values of interfacial area in cocurrent downward flow of gas and liquid with those obtained in upward flow revealed very little difference.Volumetric as well as true liquid side mass transfer coefficients in downflow were found to be several times lower than in upflow. Only in the smallest 10 mm tube a dependence of the mass transfer coefficient on the gas flow rate could be detected, no effect of the gas velocity was observed in the 15 and 20 mm tubes. A correlation for the liquid side mass transfer coefficient was obtained in terms of the Reynolds number of the film.The volumetric gas side mass transfer coefficient in upflow was generally independent on the liquid flow rate, except at high gas velocities in the two smaller tubes. Correlations were obtained for the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in terms of the specific rate of energy dissipation, and of the true mass transfer coefficient in terms of dimensionless groups. Much lower values were obtained for the gas side mass transfer coefficient in downflow. Only the data for the 10 mm tube could be correlated with some success by the formulas proposed for upflow.     

垂直管内液固并流向上传热特性的研究及其应用

采用河砂与水作试验介质,研究了垂直管内液固两相并流向上的传热和阻力特性。实验结果表明,垂直管内液固两相并流向上具有特殊的流阻特性和较强的传热作用。     

并流旋转床压降与传质特性的研究

利用水-空气系统对并流旋转床的气相压降进行了研究,并与逆流旋转床气相压降进行了对比。研究结果表明：并流较逆流旋转床的气相压降低;并流旋转床的气相压降随气体流量的增大而增大,随液体流量的增大而减小,随转速的增大明显降低;而逆流旋转床的气相压降随转速的增大明显升高。利用水吸收SO2的实验对并流旋转床的传质特性进行了研究。研究结果表明：并流旋转床填料层内各点的体积传质系数随着气体流量、液体流量和转速的增大而增大;填料层半径由70mm增大至90mm时,并流旋转床的体积传质系数迅速增大,而后并流旋转床的体积传质系数随半径的增大而减小。对并流和逆流旋转床填料层内体积传质系数进行了对比。结果表明：填料层半径由70mm增大至130mm时,并流旋转床的体积传质系数较逆流时大;当半径大于130mm后,逆流旋转床的体积传质系数大于并流旋转床的体积传质系数,且随半径增大而增大。根据研究结果,提出了降低系统压降的设想,即并流与逆流旋转床串联操作。     

Hydrodynamics and mass transfer in gas-liquid flow through static mixers

The objective of this study was to characterize the two-phase flow hydrodynamic behaviour and mass transfer in a static mixer in a horizontal pipe. Different arrangements of elements of the static mixer were tested and their performances compared. The pressure drop, bubble diameters and mass transfer coefficient were measured. The influence of operating conditions was also studied. A different correlations are proposed and compared with other correlations found in the literature.     

Mathematical modeling of turbulent heat and mass transfer with chemical conversions

A transient model of heat and mass transfer with nonlinear sources (sinks) caused by first-and second-order chemical reactions is developed. The model uses a matching condition (equal temperature and local flux values) at the reaction zone-coolant interface. A finite-difference numerical solution to the problem is obtained using the alternating direction method. The model is tested by application to fast polymerization processes. The effect of the coolant velocity, reactor radius, and coolant temperature at the reactor inlet on the polymerization efficiency is studied.     

Evaluation of pseudohomogeneous models for heat transfer in packed beds with gas flow and gas-liquid cocurrent downflow and upflow

Several pseudohomogeneous models are used by researchers in the study of heat transfer in packed beds. In this work, five of the most used pseudohomogeneous models (to one, two and three parameters) are analyzed, for gas and gas-liquid flow configurations. The models were evaluated concerning the following aspects: (a) the fitting between calculated and measured temperatures, (b) the values of thermal parameters, (c) their confidence intervals, (d) the quality of the estimation of the thermal parameters by analysis of their Box biases, and (e) the nonlinear dependence of the calculated temperatures on the thermal parameters (using the curvature measures of Bates and Watts). It was observed, particularly in gas-liquid flow, that the fittings between calculated and measured temperature profiles are better for models in which a wall heat transfer coefficient is incorporated to consider the convective resistance at the bed wall. It was also noted that the values of the thermal parameters fitted from the pseudohomogeneous models may be very different at identical operational conditions. The effective axial thermal conductivity may be neglected in the modeling because its estimation does not affect the residual functions. Besides, the estimation of k_a is tricky because it depends on the initial guess and also because the parameter is extremely sensitive to changes in the operational conditions. The confidence intervals for the parameters depend on the model and are also affected by the experimental conditions. The estimation of the parameters was adequate for the k_r-h_W and k_r-k_a models and the curvatures measures were satisfactory only for models in which h_W was not incorporated.     

Gas-Liquid mass transfer in fixed-bed reactors with cocurrent downflow operating in the pulsing flow regime

Liquid-side mass transfer coefficients were measured for cocurrent two-phase downflow in 5 and 10 cm diameter columns pakced with 2.5 and 4 mm Raschig rings. Experiments were specifically carried out in the pulsing flow regime. The mass transfer coefficients were determined via absorption of CO₂ into buffer solutions with the advantage of a high absorbing capacity. Thus columns of 1 m length could be used. Relations are proposed based on the hydrodynamic phenomena observed in pulsing flow. From these relations a correlation for k_L is found in terms of flow rates and packing characteristics that satisfies the experimental data.