Performance of CO_2 absorption in a diameter-varying spray tower

The application of spray towers for CO2 capture is a development trend in recent years. However, most of the previous jobs were conducted in a cylindrical tower by using a single spray nozzle, whose configuration and performance is not good enough for industrial application. To solve this problem, the present work proposed a diameter-varying spray tower and a new spray mode of dual-nozzle opposed impinging spray to enhance the heat and mass transfer of CO2 absorption process. Experiments were performed to investigate the mass transfer performance （in terms of the CO2 removal rate （η） and the overall mass transfer coefficient （KGae）） of the improved spray tower under various operating conditions. Experimental results showed that the liquid to gas ratio and mole ratio of MEA to C02 are major factors, which affect the absorption performance and the maximums of η and KGae that are 94.0% and 0.574 kmol. m^-3·h^-1·kPa^-1, respectively, under the experimental conditions. Furthermore, new correlations to predict the mass transfer coefficient of the proposed spray tower are developed in various CO2 concentrations with a Pearson Correlation Coefficient over 90%.

An Innovated Tower-fluidized Bed Prilling Process

Cooling-solidification of sprayed droplets is one of major methods for prilling of melt.Traditionally, this is carried out in an empty tower,and the equipment requirement for producing larger particles is very high,resulting in not only significant cost increasing but also difficulties in transporting melt etc.Based on analysis and simulation,a new prilling process is developed for the melt prilling,which combines a tower with a fluidized bed so that the height of equipment is greatly decreased,and it exhibits satisfactory performance in industrial application. Mathematical model for tower prilling,its simulated results,the structure of the equipment for the innovated prilling process and its application are addressed.

Polyethoxylation and polypropoxylation reactions：Kinetics,mass transfer and industrial reactor design

Ethoxylation and propoxylation reactions are performed in the industry to produce mainly non-ionic surfactants and ethylene oxide(EO)–propylene oxide(PO) copolymers.Both the reactions occur in gas–liquid reactors by feeding gaseous EO,PO or both into the reactor containing a solution of an alkaline catalyst(KOH or Na OH).Non-ionic surfactants are produced by using liquid starters like fatty alcohols,fatty acids or alkyl-phenols,while when the scope is to prepare EO–PO copolymers the starter can be a mono-or multi-functional alcohol of low molecular weight.Both reactions are strongly exothermic,and EO and PO,in some conditions,can give place to runaway and also to explosive side reactions.Therefore,the choice of a suitable reactor is a key factor for operating in safe conditions.A correct reactor design requires:(i) the knowledge of the kinetic laws governing the rates of the occurring reactions;(ii) the role of mass and heat transfer in affecting the reaction rate;(iii) the solubility of EO and PO in the reacting mixture with the non-ideality of the reacting solutions considered;(iv) the density of the reacting mixture.All these aspects have been studied by our research group for different starters of industrial interest,and the data collected by using semibatch well stirred laboratory reactors have been employed for the simulation of industrial reactors,in particular Gas–Liquid Spray Tower Loop Reactors.