The pressure drop experiment to determine slug lengths in multiphase monoliths

The length of the liquid slugs, that separate the elongated bubbles in Taylor flow, is an important parameter for mass transfer, flow stability and pressure drop in capillary microchannels. In this work, pressure drop measurements are used to determine the length of slug in Taylor flow in downflow monoliths. The method is sensitive if the slugs are relatively short, less than 10 times the channel diameter. The pressure drop measurements are a cheap and fast alternative to tomographic or electric methods. Experiments using different distributors indicate that the slug length varies significantly with changes in the hydrodynamics in the feed section of the monoliths. Slug length correlations that are based on parameters inside the channels can therefore not safely be used for a different setup. As a result, the slug length should be measured in each experimental setup, which makes a inexpensive and robust method to do so very welcome.     

Modelling of reactive stripping in monolith reactors

In this work, (reactive) stripping carried out in film flow monolith reactors developed for counter-current operation is investigated. Usually mass transfer in reactive separation has to be determined experimentally due to the complex flow patterns. However, monoliths have a simple geometry; only laminar flow is present throughout the column. This allows the calculation of the thickness of the liquid layer directly using Navier–Stokes equations. With this thickness known, the mass transfer can be calculated based on the convection in axial direction, diffusion in radial direction and vapour–liquid equilibrium. A model has been developed and implemented in Fortran^® based on the concept of a direct solution of convective diffusion equations, using the Thomas algorithm for solving the counter-current operation mode. Experimental data from literature have been used to validate the model for a binary and a multi-component system. The stripping of oxygen from saturated water by nitrogen was modelled assuming Fickian diffusion and vapour–liquid transfer based on the Henry constants. In a second step, multi-component diffusion and complex mass transfer at the interface were taken into account to describe the stripping of water by nitrogen from a mixture of hexyl-octanoate and cumene (solvent) under reactive stripping conditions.     

CO2 gasification of carbon catalysed by alkali metals: Reactivity and mechanism

A systematic study of the catalytic activity of alkali metal carbonates on the CO₂ gasification of activated carbon revealed the following order: Li < Na < K < Rb < Cs. Outgassing in an inert gas results in a pronounced activity decrease for Cs, whereas the other alkali metals show a slight increase. The activated carbon itself is unaffected. Apparent activation energies for the CO₂ gasification are also changed by outgassing and decrease from Li to Cs. Upon outgassing of the samples, CO₂ and CO are released in five distinguishable temperature regions, arising from decomposition of surface complexes and carbonate-like species, gasification phenomena and reduction of oxidic species. Outgassing patterns of all alkali metals are quite similar. During alkali-metal-catalysed gasification in CO₂ two types of oxidic species are present: surface bonded -OM species of high stability and oxidic species having less interaction with the carbon surface.     

Heat transport in structured packings with co-current downflow of gas and liquid

Improvements in catalyst activity make the heat transport in fixed bed reactors increasingly important. Structured packings operated in two-phase flow are expected to outperform randomly packed beds, but heat transfer data on structured packings is scarce. In this work structured packings such as OCFS (Open Cross Flow Structures), CCFS (Closed Cross Flow Structures), knitted wire, and foam were characterised with respect to the heat transfer performance. A dedicated set-up was designed and built which enabled us to measure the heat transfer rates in two-phase flow at ambient pressure in the absence of reaction. Benchmarking and set-up validation was carried out using glass beads. The structured packings—especially OCFS and CCFS—show heat transfer coefficients that are superior over those of glass beads, at lower energy dissipation.     

CARBON-BASED MONOLITHIC STRUCTURES

The interest in using monolithic structures for chemical conversion and adsorption processes is increasing. A relatively new type of monolith is based on carbon. The combined favorable properties of carbon and monolithic structures create a support with great potential in catalytic and adsorption processes. This review describes the current state of the art of carbon-based monolithic structures with respect to preparation, obtained support properties, and application in catalytic and adsorption processes, and it evaluates upcoming application areas.     

Eurokin. Chemical Reaction Kinetics in Practice

The chemical reactions taking place in the chemical reactor form the heart of any chemical process. Reaction kinetics are the translation of our understanding of the chemical processes into a mathematical rate expression that can be used in reactor design and rating. Because of the importance of correct and safe design of chemical reactors, chemical reaction kinetics is a key aspect of research and development in chemical industries, in research institutes, and academic centers, as well as in industrial laboratories. There is, and there will always be, a strong need for knowledge and a skill base concerning the determination of reaction kinetics and their application in the form of a kinetic model. This paper is a result of cooperation within Eurokin, a consortium of over 10 European companies and 4 universities. An industrial questionnaire in 1995 highlighted that industry is not only a little conservative in the methods it uses to determine kinetics, but also that there was a wide awareness of the scope for improvement. Eurokin was thus founded in 1998 to try and establish the best practices and to facilitate development work in kinetics and associated areas. The paper briefly explains some underlying theory of heterogeneously catalyzed chemical reactions and their kinetics. It deals specifically with the acquisition of kinetic data, and gives recommendations for the selection of the experimental reactor and conditions. A primary aim of this paper is discuss kinetic experimentation and modeling through a series of case studies, attempting to illustrate good practice, methods in kinetic modeling, pitfalls, and recommendations. The paper closes with some recommendations and a perspective on the future needs of industrial reaction kinetics.     

The Minor Structural Difference between the Antioxidants Quercetin and 4′O-Methylquercetin Has a Major Impact on Their Selective Thiol Toxicity

Antioxidants act as intermediates by picking up the high unselective reactivity of radicals and transferring it to other molecules. In this process the reactivity is reduced and becomes selective. This channeling of the reactivity can cause selective toxicity. The antioxidant quercetin is known to channel the reactivity towards thiol groups. The present study compares the thiol reactivity of quercetin with that of 4′O-methylquercetin (tamarixetin) towards creatine kinase (CK), a vital protein that contains a critical thiol moiety. Our results showed that oxidized quercetin and oxidized tamarixetin both adduct CK, which then loses its enzymatic function. Ascorbate, an important representative of the antioxidant network, is able to prevent adduction to and thus the inhibition of the enzyme by tamarixetin but not by quercetin. Apparently, tamarixetin is less thiol toxic than quercetin, because—rather than adduction to CK—tamarixetin quinone prefers to pass reactivity to the antioxidant network, i.e., to ascorbate. The findings exemplify that radical scavenging flavonoids pick up the reactivity of radicals and act as a pivot in directing the way the reactivity is channeled. A mere minor structural difference of only one methyl moiety between quercetin and tamarixetin appears to have a high impact on the selective, thiol toxicity.     

A SKOS-based multilingual thesaurus of geological time scale for interoperability of online geological maps

The usefulness of online geological maps is hindered by linguistic barriers. Multilingual geoscience thesauri alleviate linguistic barriers of geological maps. However, the benefits of multilingual geoscience thesauri for online geological maps are less studied. In this regard, we developed a multilingual thesaurus of geological time scale (GTS) to alleviate linguistic barriers of GTS records among online geological maps. We extended the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) model to represent the ordinal hierarchical structure of GTS terms. We collected GTS terms in seven languages and encoded them into a thesaurus by using the extended SKOS model. We implemented methods of characteristic-oriented term retrieval in JavaScript programs for accessing Web Map Services (WMS), recognizing GTS terms, and making translations. With the developed thesaurus and programs, we set up a pilot system to test recognitions and translations of GTS terms in online geological maps. Results of this pilot system proved the accuracy of the developed thesaurus and the functionality of the developed programs. Therefore, with proper deployments, SKOS-based multilingual geoscience thesauri can be functional for alleviating linguistic barriers among online geological maps and, thus, improving their interoperability.