Recirculation and flow structures of gas in downcomer section of a concentric cylindrical airlift reactor

Recirculation and flow structures of gas in the downcomer section of a concentric cylindrical airlift reactor for air-water systems were studied, using an optical probe and the cross-covariance technique. A semiempirical model for predicting the gas recirculation rates in airlift reactors was developed based on the concept of ideal bubble flow. The entrained gas rate and the gas recirculation rate increased as the superficial gas velocity increased. There were nonuniform radial distributions of local gas holdup and air flow rates in the downcomer. Air flow rates in the downcomer depended on the superficial gas velocity and the distance from the top of the draft tube, but not on the superficial liquid velocity for this experimental range.     

Development of airlift bubble column dispersed with micro‐bubbles

Micro‐bubbles were dispersed in the bubble column with draft tube, and the length and diameter of draft tube were changed. The flow characteristics in air–water system were measured. Ozone gas and methylene‐blue aqueous solution were used, and the decomposition performance was examined. With increasing draft tube length, both the gas holdup and liquid velocity in the annular section increased. When the diameter ratio of draft tube to column was about 0.5, both the gas holdup and liquid circulation flow rate had maxima. For the decomposition by using ozone, the installation of draft tube enhanced the mass transfer and decomposition performance.     

Mass transfer from discrete gas bubbles in a reciprocating plate column

Measurements have been made of the uptake of oxygen in water from a series of discrete bubbles released into a 5 cm diameter reciprocating plate column. The rate of increase of dissolved oxygen in the water has provided data on the average mass transfer coefficients under the following conditions; (a) free rise in the absence of plates, (b) bubbles rising through a static plate assembly and (c) bubbles rising through moderately agitated plates (frequency up to 1.28 Hz). It was found that the mass transfer coefficients were higher under condition (b) than (a), and were further increased under condition (c). The results were compared with earlier data on mass transfer to agitated bubble dispersions.     

Behavior of gas bubbles in aqueous electrolyte solutions

A system was investigated in which a swarm of air bubbles was dispersed in aqueous electrolyte solutions. the salts used were: NaCl, NaBr, NaI, Na₂SO₄, Na₃PO₄ LiCl, MgCl₂, MgSO₄, CaCl₂, AlCl₃ and Al₂(SO₄₃. The effects of the salts on the interfacial area of dispersion and on the oxygen transfer coefficient were investigated at various salt concentrations. The results showed a definite dependence of the surface area of dispersion on the valence of the ionic species and salt concentrations. A very satisfactory correlation was obtained for all the salts with the use of ionic strength as the correlating parameter. The mechanism of the coalescence-preventing action of the salts was discussed and explained on the basis of ion—water interactions. The oxygen mass transfer coefficient was found to be only slightly dependent on the presence of electrolytes in the range of concentrations used in this work. The importance and possible practical application of the results were briefly discussed.     

Mass transfer at the gas evolving inner electrode of a concentric cylindrical reactor

Mass transfer coefficients for an oxygen evolving vertical PbO₂ coated cylinder electrode were measured for the anodic oxidation of acidified ferrous sulphate above the limiting current. Variables studied included the ferrous sulphate concentration, the anode height, the oxygen discharge rate and the anode surface roughness. The mass transfer coefficient was found to increase with increasing O₂ discharge rate,V, and electrode height,h, according to the proportionality expressionK V ^0.34 h ^0.2. Surface roughness with a peak to valley height up to 2.6 mm was found to increase the rate of mass transfer by a modest amount which ranged from 33.3 to 50.8% depending on the degree of roughness and oxygen discharge rate. The present data, as well as previous data at vertical oxygen evolving electrodes where bubble coalescence is negligible, were correlated by the equationJ=7.63 (Re. Fr)^–0.12, whereJ is the mass transferJ factor (St. Sc ^0.66).Notation a ₁,a ₂ constants - A electrode area (cm²) - C concentration of Fe²⁺ (M) - d bubble diameter (cm) - D diffusivity (cm² s^–1) - e electrochemical equivalent (g C^–1) - F Faraday's constant - g acceleration due to gravity (cm s^–2) - h electrode height (cm) - I _Fe ²⁺ current consumed in Fe²⁺ oxidation A - I _{o 2} current consumed in O₂ evolution, A - K mass transfer coefficient (cm s^–1) - m amount of Fe²⁺ oxidized (g) - P gas pressure (atm) - p pitch of the threaded surface (cm) - Q volume of oxygen gas passing any point at the electrode surface (cm³ s^–1) - R gas constant (atm cm³ mol^–1 K^–1) - r peak-to-valley height of the threaded surface (cm) - t time of electrolysis (s) - T temperature (K) - solution viscosity (g cm^–1 s^–1) - V oxygen discharge velocity as defined by Equation 3 (cm s^–1) - Z number of electrons involved in the reaction - Sh Sherwood number (Kd/D) - Re Reynolds number (Vd/) - Sc Schmidt number (v/D) - J mass transferJ factor (St. Sc ^0.66) - St Stanton number (K/V) - Fr Froude number (V ²/dg) - Solution density, g cm^–3 - v Kinematic viscosity (cm² s^–1) - bubble geometrical parameter defined in [31] - fractional surface coverage - diffusion layer thickness (cm)     

Behavior of gas bubbles in vertically vibrating liquid columns

A theoretical analysis of the behavior of gas bubbles in vertically vibrating liquid columns is presented. The theoretical approach predicts the depth in liquids at which the downwards force, due to vibrations, acting on single bubbles just balances the buoyancy force, i.e. the depth of no net movement of given bubbles. Theoretical results predicting the direction of movement of bubbles were obtained for various diameters over a wide range of frequencies, amplitudes, liquid viscosities and densities. Agreement with published experimental work is good.     

Modeling of modified airlift loop reactor with a concentric double-draft tube

In this work, mathematical modeling based on the tanks-in-series model was employed to characterize the performance of a novel modified airlift loop reactor. Liquid mixing characteristics, i.e., mixing time and circulation time, were employed to describe the performance of the proposed reactor. These values were determined by using the classical tracer response technique in a column 18.5 cm in diameter and 90 cm in height, and two concentric draft tubes 14 and 8.5 cm in diameter and 80 cm in height. Matlab 7.1 software was used to solve the model equations in the Laplace domain and determine the model parameter. A comparison between the numerical solution and experimental data showed that the applied model can accurately describe the behavior of a modified airlift reactor. Experimental results in the homogeneous bubble flow regime showed that the proposed airlift reactor configuration with a double-draft tube significantly improves the liquid mixing quality compared to a conventional concentric-tube airlift reactor with an identical operating volume. By using this high-performance reactor, the mixing and circulation times can be reduced by up to 48.3% and 35.5%, respectively.     

Hydrodynamic behaviour of a magneto airlift column in a transverse magnetic field

The hydrodynamics of a three‐phase airlift reactor of magnetic particles has been investigated in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. Experiments were carried out in two modes: applying the magnetic field to a static bed then increasing the field flow, and applying the magnetic field to a fluidized bed then increasing the magnetic field intensity. In magnetizing the first mode and parallel to the increasing gas superficial velocity, several bed regimes were observed, including: initial packed, stabilized, and fluidized beds. On the other hand, in magnetizing last mode and while increasing the magnetic field intensity, the fluidized bed changes from a fluidized to a stabilized to frozen bed. Bed expansion before the onset of fluidization increases as the magnetic field intensity increases. Minimum fluidization velocity was found to be strongly dependent on the magnetic field intensity and the minimum stabilization intensity was also strongly dependent on the gas velocity. The magnetic field intensity also affects the bed expansion hysteresis and the liquid circulation velocity. A photocell was used to measure the water circulation rate in the downcomer of the reactor.     

Local gas holdup in a draft tube airlift bioreactor

Airlift column bioreactors are gas–liquid contact devices characterized by a rising channel and a down flow channel due to gas holdup differences in these two channels. Local gas holdup distribution strongly affects the overall gas–liquid flow dynamics in airlift columns. In this work, local gas holdup distributions in a draft tube airlift column covering both bubbly flow and churn–turbulent flow regimes have been studied using computed tomography (CT) technique as well as conventional techniques. The radial and axial evolutions of the gas holdup distribution will be discussed, together with the effects of superficial gas velocity and geometry parameters. The obtained gas holdup results will also be used to verify various empirical and semi-empirical correlations in the literature. Moreover, the obtained gas holdup information, combined with liquid flow dynamic information reported in Luo and Al-Dahhan, 2008a, Luo and Al-Dahhan, 2008b, forms a benchmark database for the design and scale-up of airlift column bioreactors and for computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling validations.     

Interaction between bubbles and fibre optic probes in a bubble column

Spherical bulb fibre optic probes, developed and applied for bubble characterization in a bubble column and a slurry bubble column at high temperature, were investigated. The principle of operation of these new optical fibre probes is based on the difference in refractive indices between the gas and the liquid phases. The interaction between the gas bubbles and the fibre optic probes in a bubble column was studied using photographic techniques. The first objective of these experiments was to study the response of the sensors upon contact with gas bubbles of various sizes. The second objective of this study was to establish, under controlled situations, the optical probe bubble detection performance and ability for local quantitative measurements of the bubble rise velocity and the gas hold-up.     

Radial liquid velocity distribution in an external-loop airlift column with a tapered riser

Radial and axial liquid velocity distributions in the tapered riser were investigated theoretically and experimentally. The liquid velocity distributions were computed by solving the Navier-Stokes equation numerically based on a modified mixing-length theory. Both radial and axial components of liquid velocity were taken into account. As a result, we found that the radial velocity component was much smaller than the axial velocity component. For a cylindrical column, which means no tapered section, a simplified solution was obtained. The simplified solution was found to agree well with the rigorous numerical solution even in the tapered riser. To confirm the validity of the present hydrodynamic model, the velocity distributions in the tapered riser were measured by an electric probe method using KCl solution as a tracer. The measured velocity distributions agreed with the computed ones, except in the vicinity of the bottom of the tapered riser at high gas flow rates.     

Lift force on bubbles in a bubble column reactor: Experimental analysis

The lift force acting on bubbles in a swarm has been estimated by analyzing the instantaneous velocity-time data obtained using LDA in a cylindrical bubble column. Phase distinction was achieved through the multiresolution analysis of the velocity-time data. Several important issues related to the transverse motion of bubbles subjected to a shear field have been discussed quantitatively. The actually measured bubble sizes, the respective slip velocity values in transverse and axial directions and the local shear rates (γ) enabled the verification of known formulations for the lift coefficient (C_L) for bubbles. At many locations in the column the radial flux of the gas phase by turbulent dispersion and the radial slip were estimated. The radially inward movement of bubbles from low to high axial velocity (from column wall to center, i.e., C_L<0) was observed at most of the measurement locations. The local lift coefficient was estimated using the transverse drag force and the values support the results from the material balance approach. The estimated C_L values showed a wide variation over the column cross-section.     

On the motion of gas bubbles in a viscoelastic liquid

The discontinuity of terminal velocity versus bubble volume previously reported as taking place in viscoelastic liquids, was studied experimentally and theoretically. A comparison of terminal velocity data for gas bubbles and glass spheres in aqueous polymer (Separan-AP30) solutions provides strong evidence that the discontinuity results from a change in interfacial conditions from “no-slip” to free shear. A numerical solution of the creeping flow equations using an empirical curve fit for viscosity versus shear-rate indicates that only a fraction of the experimentally observed velocity jump is due to the shear dependence of the viscosity alone (neglecting elastic effects). However, simple qualitative arguments seem to suggest that a relatively modest elastic contribution to the force balance on the bubble would be sufficient to account for the experimental observations.     

Viscous effect on stagnation depth of bubbles in a vertically oscillating liquid column

Previous theories which evaluated the stagnation depth of bubbles in a vertically oscillating liquid column are reviewed, and it is pointed out that they used an insufficient criterion for determining stagnation. The correct condition, which states that stagnation means zero mean velocity rather than acceleration, necessitates the solution of the equation of motion of the bubble, and thus viscous drag has to be included. It is shown, in accordance with available experimental data, that the value of the dimensionless group M = ω⁴A²ρ/2gP_o (which gives the stagnation depth h) is not in general a constant, but is dependent on four other dimensionless groups. Although there is no reliable information concerning the drag coefficient curve for such a situation, it is suggested, on the basis of comparison between different drag coefficient curves, that the high values of M reported in the literature and not accounted for by theory are due to bubble shape deviations from sphericity in viscous flow.     

Shape oscillations and path transition of bubbles rising in a model bubble column

We investigate experimentally the occurrence of shape oscillations accompanied by path transition of periodically produced air bubbles rising in water. Within the period of bubble formation, the induced velocity is measured to examine bubble-liquid and bubble-bubble interactions. The flow is produced in a small-scale bubble column with square-shaped cross section. A capillary aerator produces bubbles of size 3.4 mm at a frequency of 5 Hz. Measuring techniques employed are high-speed imaging to capture bubble shape oscillations and path geometry, and laser-Doppler anemometry (LDA) to measure the velocity in the liquid near the rising bubbles. The experimentally obtained bubble shape data are expanded in Legendre polynomials. The results show the occurrence of oscillations by the periodicity of the expansion coefficients in space. Significant shape oscillations accompanied by path transition are observed as the second-mode oscillation frequency converges to the frequency of the initial shape oscillations. The mean velocity field in the water obtained by LDA agrees well with potential theory. An analysis of the decay of the induced flow shows that there is no interaction between the flow fields of two succeeding 3.4 mm bubbles in the rectilinear path when the bubble production frequency is lower than 7.4 Hz.