Bubble columns with fine pore sparger operating in the pseudo-homogeneous regime: Gas hold up prediction and a criterion for the transition to the heterogeneous regime

New experimental data concerning the gas holdup in bubble columns equipped with porous sparger were acquired. The effect of liquid properties and sparger characteristic (i.e., pore size, dimensions) on gas holdup at the pseudo-homogeneous regime has been studied and a correlation regarding the prediction of the transition point from the pseudo-homogeneous to the heterogeneous regime has been proposed and found to be in good agreement with available data. Moreover, a previously proposed correlation [Mouza, A.A., Dalakoglou, G.K., Paras, S.V., 2005. Effect of liquid properties on the performance of bubble column reactors with fine pore spargers. Chemical Engineering Science 60(5), 1465-1475], for the prediction of gas holdup at the homogeneous regime for this type of equipment, has been modified to take into account the effect of the mean pore diameter and it is also found to be in good agreement with published data.     

Effects of sparger height and orifice orientation on solids dispersion in a slurry bubble column

The effects of gas distributor height and the orientation of its orifices are investigated on solids dispersion and gas holdup profiles in a three-phase slurry bubble column. The height of the distributor was varied to cover locations from near column bottom to above the settled solids bed height. The orifice orientations were changed from upward facing to downwards facing directions. The measurements were conducted in a Plexiglas column of 0.15 m ID and 2.5 m height. The gas phase was oil-free compressed air while tap water was used as liquid phase. Glass beads with an average particle diameter of 35 μm and density of 2450 kg/m³ constituted the solid phase. The settled bed height was about 0.4 m which provided an average slurry concentration of about 15% (v/v) when all solids were dispersed. Both axial and column average phase holdups were measured. Effects of sparger location, gas jets formation and liquid circulation patterns on gas holdups and solids dispersion are analyzed. Empirical correlations are developed to relate sparger location to solids dispersion as a function of gas velocity. Optimum sparger height and orifice orientation is proposed based on the measurement of this study.     

Design of a Pipe/Ring Type of Sparger for a Bubble Column Reactor

The sparger is an important accessory of bubble column reactors which governs the performance of the reactor. Specifically the sparger design becomes more important when the aspect ratio of the bubble column is low. The maldistribution and design of the sparger are of major concern and both these aspects are described in detail in the present work. Various methods for reducing maldistribution have been discussed and a simple method for its reduction is presented experimentally. Further a step‐wise design procedure for a pipe/ring type of sparger for bubble columns is presented together with a work example.     

Performance of a tubular elastic sparger

Elastic spargers were made from natural latex rubber tubes by repeatedly piercing the tube wall with a lance-shaped needle to make multiple, axially-aligned, slit-like punctures. Gas holdups, volumetric mass transfer coefficients and pressure drops were measured at several gas flowrates for single elastic spargers oriented vertically in a column of liquid, and compared with the corresponding measurements for a rigid sparger.     

Bubble size distribution in the sparger region of bubble columns

It is well known that the gas distributor can play an important role on the evolution of the bubble size distribution (BSD) in gas-liquid reactors, strippers and absorbers. Therefore, the main subject of the present work was to study the influence of sparger design and process parameters on the BSD in the sparger region of the considered apparatus. For this purpose, both detailed measurements and prediction of the size of bubbles produced at the sparger were carried out in three different experimental apparatuses.The unique set of BSD curves were obtained by analyzing a large amount of bubbles with a measurement based on image analysis technique.Additionally, Colella's model of BSD evolution in bubble columns was further developed by implementing a detailed physical model for predicting the initial BSD at the sparger where the model input is only based on design/process parameters. A validation of the model was carried out using data from two different columns. The comparison between calculated and experimental BSD shows good agreement.     

Exclusion of gas sparger influence on mass transfer in bubble columns

Gas phase CO₂ concentration profiles were measured in two sizes of bubble columns with different gas spargers and with the liquid phase (tap water) entrance or exit (cocurrent or countercurrent flow) at a certain height above the gas distributor. The region of high turbulence intensity near the sparger was locally separated from the region of high mass transfer rates in such columns. A modified back flow cell model was applied to describe the experimental data. The k_L-values obtained from fitting the profiles agreed for both columns and, in addition, did not differ for cocurrent and countercurrent flow. This is in remarkable contrast to previous findings(10,11). The large influence of the gas sparger on the k_L-values even in tall bubble columns was thus demonstrated. It is thought that this may probably be one of the reasons why correlations for prediction of k_L differ so significantly.     

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a spinning sparger,external loop airlift bioreactor

In this work, the traditional external loop, airlift bioreactor has been fitted with a spinning sparger. Baffles were located beyond the sparger circumference to prevent vortex motion throughout the bioreactor. The flat plate, spinning sparger had six orifices and was located below the downcomer connection to prevent the generation of a high shear environment inside the bulk medium as would be found in a stirred tank bioreactor. The spinning motion of the sparger produces smaller diameter bubbles with higher gas hold-ups and interfacial areas inside the bioreactor. Data and empirical correlations are presented for these features as well as liquid circulation velocity and mixing characteristics as functions of the spinning rate, superficial gas velocity and type of medium.     

Sectionalised bubble column: Gas hold-up and wall side solid—Liquid mass transfer coefficient

The effect of gas sparger type, clear liquid height, liquid viscosity and addition of electrolyte on fractional gas hold-up in a 0.38 m i.d. sectionalised bubble column (SBC) was studied for superficial gas velocities ranging from 0.03 to 0.15 m s⁻¹. A study of the wall side solid–liquid mass transfer coefficient, k_SL, has been made by considering the dissolution of copper in acidic dichromate solutions. The variation of k_SL with axial distance in a section for different gas velocities has been explained. A comparison between the performance of sectionalised bubble columns and conventional bubble columns has been presented. In some cases, the SBC may prove to be superior to bubble columns in practice.     

Coalescence during bubble formation at two neighbouring pores: An experimental study in microscopic scale

This work studies the effect of the liquid properties and the operating conditions on the interactions between under-formation bubbles in a cell equipped with two adjacent micro-tubes (i.d. ) for the gas injection, placed 210, 700 and apart. This set-up simulates, though in a simplified manner, the operation of the porous sparger in a bubble column, and it is used to study the bubble interactions observed on the sparger surface. Various liquids covering a wide range of surface tension and viscosity values are employed, while the gas phase is atmospheric air. A fast video recording technique is used both for the visual observations of the phenomena occurring onto the tubes and for the bubble size measurements. The experiments reveal that the interactions between under-formation bubbles as well as the coalescence time depend strongly on the liquid properties, the distance between the tubes and the gas flow rate. Two correlations, which can be found helpful for the bubble column design, have also been formulated and are in good agreement with the available experimental data.     

Effects of Orifice Orientation and Gas-Liquid Flow Pattern on Initial Bubble Size

In many gasliquid processes, the initial bubble size is determined by a series of operation parameters along with the sparger design and gasliquid flow pattern. Bubble formation models for variant gasliquid flow pat terns have been developed based on force balance. The effects of the orientation of gasliquid flow, gas velocity, liquid velocity and orifice diameter on the initial bubble size have been clarified. In ambient airwater system, thesultable gasllquid flow pattern is important to obtain smaller bubbles under the low velocity liquid crossflow con ditions with stainless steel spargers. Among the four types of gasliquid flow patterns discussed, the horizontal orifice in a vertically upward liquid flow produces the smallest initial bubbles. However the orientation effects of gas and liquid flow are found tobe insgnifican whenliq.uid velocity is.higher than. 3.2 m;sa or theorifice diameter is small enough.     

Capillary reactor for cyclohexane oxidation with oxygen

Cyclohexane oxidation is the first step in the currently used technology for production of Nylon-6 and Nylon-6,6 which employs a two-stage process. In the first stage 80% selectivity to two main products, cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone (KA oil) is obtained at 4–8% cyclohexane conversion in staged bubble columns or stirred tanks. There have been reports that increased oxygen concentration in the gas phase or pure oxygen is beneficial to cyclohexane oxidation and this was confirmed in our previous study (Jevtic et al., 2009). To fully utilize this advantage here, we present a novel, safer capillary reactor for cyclohexane oxidation with pure oxygen. The discrepancy between the experimental and modeling results was attributed to lower than expected mass transfer achieved in the capillary. With a better design for gas–liquid mixing and contacting this type of a reactor could potentially become attractive for gas–liquid reactions of similar nature.     

Hydrodynamic characterization of a needle sparger rectangular bubble column: Homogeneous flow, static bubble plume and oscillating bubble plume

In this work a detailed experimental hydrodynamic characterization of a needle sparger rectangular bubble column has been performed. The liquid velocity profiles and bubble plume oscillation frequency have been measured by means of laser Doppler anemometry (LDA), and the bubble velocity map by particle image velocimetry (PIV). In this way, the influence of the superficial gas velocity, liquid height and aeration pattern on the column flow structure was analysed. A highly uniform upward flow structure with down flow near the walls was obtained by means of a full-length aeration pattern. This flow structure was preserved even for high gas fractions values. The partial-length aeration patterns with the aerated zone (defined as the aerated width divided by the column width) larger than 0.7 provide a bubble plume and two pure liquid vortical structures in the column bottom, although they are static in nature. With aerated zones lower than 0.6, an oscillating bubble plume is obtained. A non-dimensional analysis of bubble plume oscillation frequency shows a dependence of bubble plume behaviour with the aerated zone. In this way, two different types of bubble plume oscillations, namely confined bubble plume oscillation and free bubble plume oscillation, are introduced and analysed.     

Generation of uniform small bubbles and hydrodynamic characterization of a bubble column with high pressure jet sparger

Systems generating uniform small bubbles are used in many mineral processing and chemical operations. We investigated the generation of smaller bubbles by using a two fluid jet system. Gas holdup results are reported in terms of the effect of superficial gas and liquid velocities in relation to the pressure in a bubble column with a water jet sparger. Experiments were conducted with hydrostatic head of 80 cm, 100 cm, and 120 cm in the bubble column. The gas velocity varied from 0.122 to 1.22 cm/s, and water flow rate from 33.3 to 333 cm³/s. Experiments were conducted at pressures of 2 atms., 3 atms. 4 atms. and 5 atms., and bubble sizes were measured by a digital camera (bubble compared to a reference wire inside the bubble column). Results show that the gas holdup increases with the pressure and superficial gas velocities; and at pressures of 2, 3, 4 and 5 atms., the gas holdup increases by 8.75%, 9.166%, 10% and 10%, respectively. The maximum gas holdup of 16.4% was observed at a liquid level of 80 cm and pressure of 4 atms. Optimum conditions for generating smaller bubbles with larger gas holdup are increased liquid flow rate, low liquid level, and high gas pressure. Experimental results also indicate that the column operates in both the homogeneous and heterogeneous regimes of gas-liquid flow.     

The effect of sparger geometry on gas holdup and regime transition points in a bubble column equipped with perforated plate spargers

This paper investigates the effect of sparger geometry on flow regime of a bubble column. The experiments presented in this study were performed under atmospheric pressure with water/air in a cylindrical Plexiglas^® column of 33.0 cm i.d. and 3.0 m height. Three different perforated plate spargers were employed. Hole diameter was varied in the range of 1–3 mm, while the free area was 1.0%.The theory of linear stability is used for the prediction of regime transitions in the bubble column and a comparison has been presented between the predictions and the experimental observations. A good agreement between the predictions and the experimental values of transition gas holdup has been obtained.In addition, the data from the literature has been analyzed. Experimental values of transition gas holdups and predictions by the theory of linear stability have been compared with those of literature.A correlation based on dimensionless numbers (Archimedes, Froude, Eötvös and Weber) and the group (d_o/D_C) for the prediction of gas holdup in homogeneous regime is proposed. The average error between the correlation predictions and experimental values remains under ±10%.The proposed correlation is compared with the published data and found to be in fairly good agreement.     

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.     

Effect of spent grains on flow regime transition in bubble column

It is well known that two main flow regimes are present in bubble columns, being the evaluation of transition between homogeneous and heterogeneous regimes of crucial importance for reactor design. For air–water systems, several models have been satisfactorily proposed to explain this phenomenon. However when gas–liquid–solids systems are considered, solid particles influence on regime transition is not yet clear, in spite of the amount of research developed over the past years.The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of a specific solid phase – spent grains – on homogeneous regime stability and regime transition. Spent grains are cellulose-based particles that have been used to immobilize cells on biotechnology process. These particles are wettable and have a density close to water and its influence on bubble column reactors is particularly important in order to establish the limits were both regimes prevail.A cylindrical Plexiglax BC of 18 L volume was used with air, water and spent grains at different concentrations (0–20% (wt._{WET BASIS}/vol.)) as gas, liquid and solid phases. Regime transition was determined according to the drift-flux and slip speed concept.It was found that at studied concentrations of spent grains, critical gas hold-up decreases as solids concentration increases. At the highest solids concentration and lowest gas flow rates no fluidization of the solid phase was observed. It is believed that the critical hold-up decrease was mainly due to bubble coalescence, as larger bubbles were observed when heterogeneous regime was present. This coalescence may be caused by the non-uniform distribution of solid phase on the column and the interaction of spent grains with bubbles in the liquid–gas interface     

Interfacial area and mass transfer in carbon dioxide absorption in TEA aqueous solutions in a bubble column reactor

The hydrodynamic behaviour and mass transfer of carbon dioxide removal process by aqueous solutions of triethanolamine (TEA) are analysed. The experiments were made in a bubble column reactor (BCR) as gas–liquid contactor. The interfacial area and mass transfer coefficient were calculated by using a photographic method based on the bubble diameter determination. The influence of operation conditions, liquid phase nature and chemical reaction on the mass transfer coefficient and gas–liquid interfacial area has been also analysed.     

Effect of organic surfactant additives on gas holdup in the pseudo-homogeneous regime in bubble columns equipped with fine pore sparger

New experimental data concerning the gas holdup in bubble columns equipped with porous sparger were acquired. The effect of surfactant additives on gas holdup in the pseudo-homogeneous regime has been studied. Three different commercial surfactants (Triton X-100^®, SDS^®, CTAB^®) were used and four aqueous solutions of each one were employed, in order to study the effect of the surfactant concentration and type (i.e., non-ionic, anionic, cationic). A general correlation, which includes dimensionless numbers (i.e., Froude, Archimedes and Bond) as well as the geometric characteristics of the column and the sparger, can predict the gas holdup in various systems (i.e., pure substances, ionic surfactants, non-ionic surfactants) with reasonable accuracy.     

单孔及微孔曝气低气速鼓泡床内气泡行为比较

引言鼓泡床反应器被广泛应用于吸收、液相氧化、好氧生化等气液反应过程,气体在液相中的分散情况对鼓泡床的反应和传质特性都有很大影响.为了提高气液传质效率,增加生产强度,工业反应器很多都是在高气速下操作(Ug>0·05m·s-1),很多研究都集中在高气速湍动鼓泡区[1~3].但对有机     

Population balance modeling of bubble size distributions in a direct-contact evaporator using a sparger model

The study of bubble size distributions in direct-contact evaporators was addressed both theoretically and experimentally. Recently developed models for calculating bubble coalescence and breakage frequencies in isothermal bubble columns were adapted to the population balance equation using the bubble mass as the internal coordinate which was discretized using an expansion of the number density function by impulse functions. A sparger model was developed based on experimental data for a non-coalescing system and using bubble formation models for isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Bubble size distributions in a direct-contact evaporator operating in the quasi-steady-state regime for four different gas superficial velocities, including the homogeneous and heterogeneous regimes, together with the sparger model, were used for estimating the three empirical parameters from the population balance model, which were observed to be functions of the gas superficial velocity. In all cases considered, the population balance model fitted the experimental data rather well and the regressed parameters exhibit the physically expected behavior with changes in the gas superficial velocity.