3‐D Simulations of an Internal Airlift Loop Reactor using a Steady Two‐Fluid Model

Three‐dimensional (3‐D) simulations of an internal airlift loop reactor in a cylindrical reference frame are presented, which are based on a two‐fluid model with a revised k‐? turbulence model for two‐phase bubbly flow. A steady state formulation is used with the purpose of time saving for cases with superficial gas velocity values as high as 0.12 m/s. Special 3‐D treatment of the boundary conditions at the axis is undertaken to allow asymmetric gas‐liquid flow. The simulation results are compared to the experimental data on average gas holdup, average liquid velocity in the riser and the downcomer, and good agreement is observed. The turbulent dispersion in the present two‐fluid model has a strong effect on the gas holdup distribution and wall‐peaking behavior is predicted. The CFD code developed has the potential to be applied as a tool for scaling up loop reactors.     

A dynamically distributed reactor model for identifying the flow fields in industrial loop propylene polymerization reactors

The use of distributed parameter model is becoming a common approach for simulating liquid–solid flow in loop polymerization reactors. However, there are still several issues with it. One of them is the absence of modeling of distributed pressure, as no thermodynamic state‐equation is incorporated into the model. In this work, inner pressure of the reactor was associated with temperature using a thermodynamic state‐equation for high‐pressure liquid. The thermodynamic state‐equation was solved together with a dynamically distributed reactor model based on the mass, energy, and momentum conservation as well as polymerization kinetics to predict the dynamic trajectories of component concentration, temperature, pressure, and bulk mass velocity in the reactor. Industrial steady‐state data were used for model validation. The application of the model was demonstrated by simulating the effect of recycle ratio on the above distributed reactor parameters. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Simulation and Experimental Validation of Two‐Phase Flow in an Aerosol Counter‐Flow Reactor using Computational Fluid Dynamics

A simulation of the hydrodynamic behavior of an aerosol‐counter flow reactor was conducted using an Euler‐Lagrange method. The simulation results were then verified with experiments. The process simulated was a separation process required during the production of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester). In this process, the liquid ester/glycerol phases are continuously injected through a hollow cone nozzle with an overpressure of 10⁶ Pa into the reactor, operated at 15000 Pa. The liquid is atomized because of the pressure drop and a liquid particle spray is generated with an inlet velocity of 44.72 m/s. Water vapor of temperature 333 K is injected tangentially through two side, gas inlets with an inlet velocity of 1.2 m/s. Excess methanol is subjected to a mass transfer from the liquid phase into the gas phase, which is withdrawn through the head of the reactor and condensed in an external condenser unit. The stripping of the methanol off the liquid leads to a sharp interface between the glycerol and the ester phase, which can then be easily separated by gravity or pumping. The gas velocity field, pressure field and the liquid particle trajectories were calculated successfully. Simulated dwell time distribution curves were derived and analyzed with the open‐open vessel dispersion model. Experimental dwell time distribution curves were measured, analyzed with the open‐open vessel dispersion model, and compared with the simulated curves. A good consistency between simulated and measured Bodenstein numbers was achieved, but 25 % of the simulated particles exited at the reactor's head, contrary to experimental observations. The difference between simulated and measured dwell times was within one order of magnitude.     

Effect of liquid volume in the gas‐separator on the hydrodynamics of airlift reactors

Gas hold‐up and liquid circulation velocity measurements were made using a 167 dm³ external loop airlift reactor. The gas‐separator was of the open channel configuration. The reactor height was 2.5 m with riser and downcomer diameters of 0.19 m and 0.14 m respectively. The systems investigated were Newtonian air–water and air–glycerol with the superficial air velocity varying between 0.02 and 0.12 m s⁻¹. The ratio of the liquid volume in the gas‐separator to the liquid volume in the reactor (volume‐ratio) was varied from 0.0% to 37%, to find its minimum critical value for optimum operation of the airlift reactor. For the air–water system, discernible effects of the volume‐ratio on riser and, downcomer gas hold‐ups and liquid circulation velocity were observed at volume ratios ≤7%. Beyond this value, the volume‐ratio had no effect. For a viscous and foaming air–glycerol system the critical volume‐ratio was increased to 19%. New and simple correlations for predicting gas hold‐up in the riser, gas hold‐up in the downcomer, and liquid circulation velocity were developed with reasonable accuracy. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

硅油光-热老化气升式反应器数值模拟

为进行液浸聚光光伏系统中液浸液体即二甲基硅油在光热条件下的老化实验研究,设计制作了气升式外环流光催化反应器。采用Fluent软件欧拉多相流模型和RNG k-ε湍流模型对反应器进行了三维全尺寸数值模拟。分析了结构参数、操作参数和硅油物性参数对反应器中气液两相流动的影响,得到反应器内循环液速和气含率等参数的分布。模拟结果与实验结果有较好的一致性。模拟结果表明:硅油黏度越小,循环液速越大,气含率越小;反应器适宜操作气速不应大于0.02 m/s;反应器最适宜高径比和环隙面积比分别为47.6和0.31~0.41。     

CFD simulation of the hydrodynamics in an internal air-lift reactor with two different configurations

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate the hydrodynamic parameters of two internal airlift bioreactors with different configurations. Both had a riser diameter of 0.1 m. The model was used to predict the effect of the reactor geometry on the reactor hydrodynamics. Water was utilized as the continuous phase and air in the form of bubbles was applied as the dispersed phase. A two-phase flow model provided by the bubbly flow application mode was employed in this project. In the liquid phase, the turbulence can be described using the k-? model. Simulated gas holdup and liquid circulation velocity results were compared with experimental data. The predictions of the simulation are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Modeling of an industrial fixed bed reactor based on lumped kinetic models for hydrogenation of pyrolysis gasoline

In this work, a mathematical model of an industrial fixed bed reactor for the catalytic hydrogenation of pyrolysis gasoline produced from olefin production plant is developed based on a lumped kinetic model. A pseudo-homogeneous system for liquid and solid phases and three pseudo-components: diolefins, olefins, and parraffins, are taken into account in the development of the reactor model. Temperature profile and product distribution from real plant data on a gasoline hydrogenation reactor are used to estimate reaction kinetic parameters. The developed model is validated by comparing the results of simulation with those collected from the plant data. From simulation results, it is found that the prediction of significant state variables agrees well with the actual plant data for a wide range of operating conditions; the developed model adequately represents the fixed-bed reactor.     

微藻柱状式光生物反应器流动特性及结构的数值模拟优化

微藻作为最具潜力的可再生生物质能源,在生物固碳和生物燃料生产领域优势显著,有助于碳达峰、碳中和目标的实现。通过改善反应器曝气装置的性能可以大幅度提高微藻的培养效率,本工作采用数值模拟方法对柱式光生物反应器的球型曝气结构进行了优化。模拟采用欧拉模型,湍流模型选取k-ε模型,研究分析了不同曝气装置条件下气含率、平均液相速度、湍流动能几种参数的变化和光生物反应器内的流场情况。结果表明,曝气装置结构的变化对光生物反应器内的流动特性具有很大的影响,通过曝气装置向反应器内通气,气含率、平均液相速度、湍流动能随着曝气量的增大而增大,随着曝气装置孔径的增大而减小。综合各相关参数得到当总曝气量为1400 mL/min、曝气孔数为50、曝气孔径为30μm时,曝气装置性能最好,此时测得气含率为68.6%,平均液相速度为0.905 m/s,湍流动能为0.149 m²/s²。     

Influence of Pressure on the Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer Parameters of an Agitated Bubble Reactor

The present study deals with the pressure effects on the hydrodynamic flow and mass transfer within an agitated bubble reactor operated at pressures between 10⁵ and 100 × 10⁵ Pa. In order to clarify the flow behavior within the reactor, liquid phase residence time distributions (RTD) for different operating pressures and gas velocities ranging between 0.005 m/s and 0.03 m/s are determined experimentally by the tracer method for which a KCl solution is used as a tracer. The result of the analysis of the liquid‐phase RTD curves justifies the tank‐in‐series model flow for the operating pressure range. Good agreement is obtained between theoretical and experimental results assuming the reactor is operating as perfectly mixed. Two parameters characterizing the mass transfer are identified and investigated in respect to pressure: the gas‐liquid interfacial area and volumetric liquid‐side mass transfer coefficient. The chemical absorption method is used. For a given gas mass flow rate, the interfacial area as well as the volumetric liquid mass transfer coefficient decrease with increasing operating pressure. However, for a given pressure, a and k_La increase with increasing gas mass flow rates. The mass transfer coefficient k_L is independent of pressure.     

Structured Raney Nickel Catalysts for Liquid‐Phase Hydrogenation

Structured catalysts consisting of metal sheets on which Raney nickel was deposited by the thermal spraying method were tested for the liquid‐phase hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol and 2‐nitrotoluene to 2‐methylaniline, used as model reactions. Catalytic tests performed in a bench‐scale (1 L) reactor showed that the catalytic activity of Raney Ni sheets is significantly higher than the one of the pellets used for fixed‐bed applications, but lower than the activity of the powder catalyst used in slurry mode. The activity could be significantly improved when applying a two‐phase co‐current flow through a monolith. In this case, the activity was superior to the one obtained with the slurry catalyst. These results confirm the potential of Raney Ni monoliths as structured catalysts.     

Liquid velocity in a high‐solids‐loading three‐phase external‐loop airlift reactor

BACKGROUND: Airlift reactors are of interest for many different processes, especially for three‐phase systems. In this study the behavior of a high‐loading three‐phase external‐loop airlift reactor was examined. In particular, the effect of parameters such as airflow rate (riser superficial gas velocities between 0.003 and 0.017 m s^?1), solids loading (up to 50%, v/v) on liquid circulation velocity in the air‐water‐alginate beads system as a crucial hydrodynamic parameter was studied. RESULTS: It was observed that increase of the airflow rate resulted in increase of the liquid velocity in the system. The same result but less pronounced was observed by introducing small amounts of solid particles up to 7.5% v/v. However, further introduction of solids caused decrease of the liquid velocity. Laminar regime for the liquid circulation was observed for low gas velocities. Minimum gas velocities for recirculation initiation in the reactor were determined for all solid loadings and linear dependence on the solid content was found. Gas holdups for the three‐phase system were larger than for the two‐phase system in all experiments. A simple model for predicting the liquid circulation velocity in the three‐phase system with high solid loading of low‐density particles was developed. This model is based on the viscosity of integrated medium (solid + liquid) which is a new aspect to analyze this phenomenon. CONCLUSIONS: The developed model shows very good agreement with the experimental results for all solid loadings. It also includes the influence of reactor geometry on the liquid circulation velocity thus enabling optimization. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Energy efficient and controlled flow processing under microwave heating by using a millireactor–heat exchanger

A continuously operated microwave heated millireactor setup has been developed for performing reactions of highly microwave absorbing media in a controlled and energy efficient manner. The setup consists of a tubular reactor integrated with a heat exchanger. A microwave transparent liquid was used as coolant to extract the excess heat from the reaction mixture, thus controlling the temperature of the reaction mixture by avoiding overshoots and subsequent boiling. A reactor‐heat exchanger shell and tube unit with a diameter of the inner tube of 3·10^?3 m and a shell of 7·10^?3 m inner diameter has been manufactured in quartz. The unit size was defined based on simulation with a heat‐transfer model for the microwave cavity part. Microwave heating was incorporated as a volumetric heating source term using the temperature‐dependent dielectric properties of the liquid. Model predictions were validated with measurements for a range of 0.167·10^?6 to 1.67·10^?6 m³/s flow rates of coolant. The outlet temperature of both the reaction mixture and the coolant, were predicted accurately (tolerance of 3 K), and the process window was determined. The model for the reactor part provided the required length of the reactor for a hetero‐geneously catalyzed esterification reaction. The predicted conversions, based on the obtained temperature profile in the reactor packed with the catalyst bed, known residence times and kinetics of the esterification reaction, were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Efficient utilization of microwave energy with heat recovery up to 20% of the total absorbed microwave power and heating efficiencies up to 96% were achieved. It has been demonstrated that the microwave heating combined with millireactor flow processing provides controlled and energy efficient operation thus making it a viable option for a fine chemical production scale of 1 kg/day (24 h period). © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 3144–3155, 2012     

Gas‐Liquid Mass Transfer in a Bench‐Scale Trickle Bed Reactor used for Benzene Hydrogenation

The gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficients (MTCs) of a trickle bed reactor used for the study of benzene hydrogenation were investigated. The Ni/Al₂O₃ catalyst bed was diluted with a coarse‐grained inert carborundum (SiC) particle catalyst. Gas‐liquid mass transfer coefficients were estimated by using a heterogeneous model for reactor simulation, incorporating reaction kinetics, vapor‐liquid equilibrium, and catalyst particle internal mass transfer apart from gas‐liquid interface mass transfer. The effects of liquid axial dispersion and the catalyst wetting efficiency are shown to be negligible. Partial external mass transfer coefficients are correlated with gas superficial velocity, and comparison between them and those obtained from experiments conducted on a bed diluted with fine particles is also presented. On both sides of the gas‐liquid interface the hydrogen mass transfer coefficient is higher than the corresponding benzene one and both increase significantly with gas velocity. The gas‐side mass transfer limitations appear to be higher in the case of dilution with fine particles. On the liquid side, the mass transfer resistances are higher in the case of dilution with coarse inerts for gas velocities up to 3 · 10^–2 cm/sec, while for higher gas velocities this was inversed and higher mass transfer limitations were obtained for the beds diluted with fine inerts.     

Liquid‐Liquid Biphasic,Platinum‐Catalyzed Hydrosilylation of Allyl Chloride with Trichlorosilane using an Ionic Liquid Catalyst Phase in a Continuous Loop Reactor

The platinum‐catalyzed hydrosilylation of allyl chloride with trichlorosilane was investigated in an ionic liquid‐organic biphasic reaction mode. After an ionic liquid screening and repetitive batch mode experiments, the process was realized in a continuous mode using a loop reactor concept with integrated continuous separation and recycling of the ionic liquid catalyst phase. The continuous reactor could be operated for 48 h at constant activity and selectivity without addition of platinum indicating that platinum leaching into the product phase was far below 1 ppm. Enhanced selectivity for the product trichloro(3‐chloropropyl)silane (compared to the state‐of‐the art) and the possibility to use simple platinum tetrachloride (PtCl₄) as platinum source are further attractive features of this new ionic liquid‐based process concept.     

New emulsion polymerization tubular reactor with internal angular baffles: Reaction temperature effect

Deterministic models of physicochemical, mathematical, and computational sciences were used for modeling and simulation of emulsion homopolymerization process of styrene with baffles into tubular reactor (TR) as static mixer. Modeling and simulation were approximate to steady state, cylindrical one‐dimensional model, fully developed laminar plug flow, and they were solved with finite volume method and programmed with Fortran language. Also, the Smith‐Ewart model was considered to estimate the monomer conversion and Arrhenius chemical kinetics was considered as laminar finite‐rate model to compute chemical source. The experimental‐inductive and mathematical‐deductive methods were applied for obtaining mass balance results and properties characterization. The objective is to model, to simulate, and to analyze the emulsion polymerization reactor performance with internal‐inclined angular baffles, and to compare with continuous TR in variable reaction temperature. The predictions were validated with experimental results for the isothermic and TR, with a good concordance. The results in no isothermal conditions without and with baffles were better than in isothermal conditions without and with baffles in relation to the desired properties. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 2572–2581, 2006     

G-LISR不同气相入口流速对流场特性的影响

为了提高气液撞击流反应器(G-LISR)的混合性能,找到合适气相入口速度的操作参数,采用ANSYS Workbench中的Geometry模块,基于欧拉·拉格朗日法建立G-LISR气液两相流动数学模型。在加速管对置距离为400mm,液相入口速度为5m/s,三种不同的气相入口速度(10,15,20m/s)条件下,用数值模拟软件Fluent分析模拟出了不同气相入口流速下反应器内流场的分布特征。模拟结果表明:随着气相入口初始流速的增大,反应器内湍流强度有所增加,在压力波动最为剧烈的撞击面中心点处,压力急剧增大。增大气相初始流速,将降低反应器中的液滴的浓度分布,减少了液相在反应器中的停留时间。从能量损耗和气液两相在反应器中的混合效果来看,气相初始流速不宜过大,10m/s为较佳。     

Assessing the performance of an industrial SBCR for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: Experimental and modeling

The main objective of this study is to predict the performance of an industrial‐scale (ID = 5.8 m) slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR) operating with iron‐based catalyst for Fischer–Tropsch (FT) synthesis, with emphasis on catalyst deactivation. To achieve this objective, a comprehensive reactor model, incorporating the hydrodynamic and mass‐transfer parameters (gas holdup, ε_G, Sauter‐mean diameter of gas bubbles, d₃₂, and volumetric liquid‐side mass‐transfer coefficients, k_La), and FT as well as water gas shift reaction kinetics, was developed. The hydrodynamic and mass‐transfer parameters for He/N₂ gaseous mixtures, as surrogates for H₂/CO, were obtained in an actual molten FT reactor wax produced from the same reactor. The data were measured in a pilot‐scale (0.29 m) SBCR under different pressures (4–31 bar), temperatures (380–500 K), superficial gas velocities (0.1–0.3 m/s), and iron‐based catalyst concentrations (0–45 wt %). The data were modeled and predictive correlations were incorporated into the reactor model. The reactor model was then used to study the effects of catalyst concentration and reactor length‐to‐diameter ratio (L/D) on the water partial pressure, which is mainly responsible for iron catalyst deactivation, the H₂ and CO conversions and the C₅₊ product yields. The modeling results of the industrial SBCR investigated in this study showed that (1) the water partial pressure should be maintained under 3 bars to minimize deactivation of the iron‐based catalyst used; (2) the catalyst concentration has much more impact on the gas holdup and reactor performance than the reactor height; and (3) the reactor should be operated in the kinetically controlled regime with an L/D of 4.48 and a catalyst concentration of 22 wt % to maximize C₅₊ products yield, while minimizing the iron catalyst deactivation. Under such conditions, the H₂ and CO conversions were 49.4% and 69.3%, respectively, and the C₅₊ products yield was 435.6 ton/day. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3838–3857, 2015     

强制液体外循环气升式内环流反应器的流体力学特性

在有机玻璃制成的主体反应器(φ0.286 m×3.0 m)内,采用空气-水的气液两相体系考察了不同表观气速下带有中心下料管和环管式气体分布器的环流反应器内局部气含率和内环气泡上升速度的流体力学特性。结果表明：气含率均随表观气速的增大而增大;从外环流入内环的气泡数量比较少;在相同条件下外环的气含率远远低于内环的气含率;新型气体分布器的采用和液体外循环的引入可以增大床层气含率并使其分布趋于均匀,从而增大了内环中气液两相的接触面积和湍动强度,使传递过程得到强化。在此基础上采用商业软件ANSYS CFX10.0对该反应器进行了数值模拟研究,模拟结果与实验数据基本吻合,说明了基于实验验证的Euler-Euler法可以用于该反应器开发和放大研究。     

Design and Analysis of a Submerged Membrane Reactor by CFD Simulation

CFD was applied to demonstrate the effect of reactor configurations on the fluid flow pattern in submerged membrane reactors. A mixture model, a realizable k‐? model, and the multiple reference frame (MRF) technique were employed to simulate the solid‐liquid turbulent flow. Influences of the introduction of a ceramic membrane, the relative position between ceramic membrane and impeller, and the types of impeller on velocity profiles and concentration distributions were systematically discussed. These simulation results were validated qualitatively with experimental data for various reactor configurations.     

Structural parameter optimization for novel internal-loop iron–carbon micro-electrolysis reactors using computational fluid dynamics

It is generally recognized that internal-loop reactors are well-developed mass and heat-transfer multiphase flow reactors. However, the internal flow field in the internal-loop reactor is influenced by the structure parameter of the reactor, which has a great effect on the reaction efficiency. In this study, the computational fluid dynamics simulation method was used to determine the influence of reactor structure on flow field, and a volume-offluid model was employed to simulate the gas–liquid, two-phase flow of the internal-loop micro-electrolysis reactor. Hydrodynamic factors were optimized when the height-to-diameter ratio was 4:1, diameter ratio was9:1, draft-tube axial height was 90 mm. Three-dimensional simulations for the water distributor were carried out, and the results suggested that the optimal conditions are as follows: the number of water distribution pipes was four, and an inhomogeneous water distribution was used. According to the results of the simulation,the suitable structure can be used to achieve good fluid mechanical properties, such as the good liquid circulation velocity and gas holdup, which provides a good theoretical foundation for the application of the reactor.