Modeling gas absorption accompanied by chemical reaction in bubble column and foam-bed slurry reactors

The published data in the literature and the reported models on foam-bed reactors have been reanalyzed. It is observed that the models have been developed assuming negligible conversion in the storage section although the storage constitutes 65–85% of the total volume of liquid/slurry charged into the reactor. For confirmation of the reported information, in the present work, experiments have been performed in foam-bed and bubble column slurry reactors for carbonation of hydrated lime slurry using carbon-dioxide gas under identical conditions. A comparison of the relative performances of the two reactors has been made. Storage section is found to be the main section governing the performance of the foam-bed slurry reactor. New mathematical models have been developed for both the reactors. The model predictions agree well with the experimental data.