Trickle Bed Wetting Factors From Pressure Drop And Liquid Holdup Measurements

In this work, solid-liquid wetting factors were determined from liquid holdup and pressure drop measurements according to the model proposed by Pironti et al. for different air-liquid systems: distilled water and CMC solutions at viscosity values of 3, 6, 9, and 12 mPa.s. The experiments were carried out at atmospheric conditions in a column of 10.2 cm internal diameter and 2 m high, packed with a cylindrical material. The superficial mass velocities varied from 0.67 to 18.6 kg/m 2 s for liquid flow and from 0.024 to 0.31 kg/m 2 s for gas flow. Under these operating conditions, regime of continuous gas flow was observed. The wetting factors obtained were in agreement with those reported by other methods, which allow us to confirm that the model used in this work is applicable to fluids of different properties at low gas velocities.     

Fluid-dynamic experimental study in a slurry bubble column with a tube bank in cross flow

In this work, the fluid-dynamic of a slurry bubble column provided with a tube bank operating in cross flow was studied. The main objective was to determine the influence of the air velocity, the slurry velocity, and the solid concentration in the gas holdup and solid distribution inside a bed with internals. Pilot scale equipment with a column of square traverse section (0.144 m 2 ) of stainless steel with 2.20 m height was used. The column base has a truncated pyramidal shape with an inclination angle to the vertical of 20°. In the central part of the equipment, there is a bank of 49 tubes ( D =2.54 cm and L =38 cm) in an aligned arrangement ( S_L=S_T=4.4\,\rm cm ). The three-phase system used was compressed air, tap water, and sieved sand ( D_p=0.0505\,\rm cm ). The velocities of liquid and gas phases were varied in the range from 0.31 to 1.24 cm/s and from 1.41 to 3.15 cm/s, respectively, and the solids load concentration from 0 to 30% w/w. According to the results, when the liquid and gas phase velocities increase, the gas holdup, \varepsilon_G , increases, while when the solids load concentration increases, \varepsilon_G presents a local maximum at intermediate values, \varepsilon_G being the largest for the two-phase system. Analogously, the axial profiles of solids concentration showed a local maximum in the central region of the column, exactly in the area of the tube bank. In the traverse direction, the solids concentration increases gradually heading to the center of the column. These profiles, axial and traverse, become more uniform as the air velocity increases and the slurry as well. In addition, according to expectations, the solids concentration increases in each point of the column as the load concentration is increased in the system.     

Trickle Bed Wetting Factors From Pressure Drop And Liquid Holdup Measurements

In this work, solid-liquid wetting factors were determined from liquid holdup and pressure drop measurements according to the model proposed by Pironti et al. for different air-liquid systems: distilled water and CMC solutions at viscosity values of 3, 6, 9, and 12 mPa.s. The experiments were carried out at atmospheric conditions in a column of 10.2 cm internal diameter and 2 m high, packed with a cylindrical material. The superficial mass velocities varied from 0.67 to 18.6 kg/m 2 s for liquid flow and from 0.024 to 0.31 kg/m 2 s for gas flow. Under these operating conditions, regime of continuous gas flow was observed. The wetting factors obtained were in agreement with those reported by other methods, which allow us to confirm that the model used in this work is applicable to fluids of different properties at low gas velocities.     

SOLID-LIQUID MASS TRANSFER AND WETTING FACTORS IN TRICKLE BED REACTORS: EFFECT OF THE TYPE OF SOLID PHASE AND THE PRESENCE OF CHEMICAL REACTION

The solid-liquid wetting factor, f, for solid dissolution in a liquid with and without chemical reaction was experimentally determined in a fixed bed three-phase reactor with downward concurrent gas and liquid flows (Trickle Bed Reactor). The method employed consisted of comparing the volumetric solid-liquid mass transfer coefficient obtained when two phases (liquid and gas) circulated through the bed, with those coefficients obtained at liquid full bed conditions, maintaining the intrinsic liquid velocity constant. The chemical system selected was benzoic acid and acetylsalicylic acid as solid phases, water and sodium hydroxide in aqueous solution, and atmospheric air. Experiments were carried out in which the flow of both phases was modified, obtaining a direct dependency of f with the flow and holdup of liquid. The gas flow effect over f was not important in the flow regime studied, defined as the low interaction regime. Furthermore, the wetting factor is not affected by the nature of the solute and by the presence of a chemical reaction.     

A Thermal Conductivity Experimental Method Based on the Peltier Effect

The objective of this work was to test a novel experimental technique to determine the thermal conductivity of low-thermal conductivity materials and tropical foods. The experimental method was based on the Peltier effect and its application to the thermoelectric heat pump. This device became practical recently with the development of semiconductor thermocouple materials. The module assembly used in this work had 127 thermocouples connected in series electrically and in parallel thermally. The heat transfer area of the module was 3.96×3.96 cm². The equipment was calibrated using standard materials of known thermal conductivity: Plexiglas and Bakelite. Then the values were easily computed from a steady-state energy balance equation.     

HYDRODYNAMICS OF LAMINAR LIQUID JETS. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AND COMPARISON WITH TWO MODELS

Laminar jets of Newtonian liquids issuing from long vertical cylindrical nozzles and falling freely through stagnant air were studied experimentally for Reynolds numbers between 300 and 1000. Jet diameters were measured from still photographs, and radial distributions of axial velocity were obtained by laser Doppler anemometry. The effect of nozzle diameter, fluid viscosity and surface tension was investigated.

The experimental results were compared with numerical solutions of the Protean coordinate model developed by Duda and Vrentas. The boundary layer simplifications were confirmed to be valid only for the downstream region of the jet and for Reynolds numbers greater than 1000.

The experimental diameters were also compared with predictions from a form of the Bernoulli equation with a surface tension term. The asymptotic validity of the model was confirmed, provided that the dissipation term arising from fluid viscosity could be neglected.

Neither model correlated the jet formation region satisfactorily. For this region, an empirical correlation was developed which improves the diameter prediction and is complementary of either model.