Simulation of a Reverse Flow Reactor for the Catalytic Combustion of Lean Methane Emissions

This work is focused on the performance prediction of pilot scale catalytic reverse flow reactors used for combustion of lean methane-air mixtures. An unsteady one-dimensional heterogeneous model for the reactor was established to account for the influence of the reactor wall on the heat transfer. Results of the simulation indicate that feed concentration, switch time and compensatory temperature impose important influence on the performance of the reactor. The amount of the heat extracted from the mid-section of the reactor can be optimized via adjusting the parameters mentioned above. At the optimal operating conditions, Le. switching time of 400 s, feed concentration of 1% （by volume）, and insulation layer temperature of 343 K, the axial temperature of the reactor revealed a comparatively symmetrical ＂saddle＂ distribution, indicating a favorable operating status of the catalytic reverse flow reactor.

Experimental Study on Combustion Characteristics of Pulverized Coal under Enriched-oxygen Condition by Entrained Flow Reactor

Four different pulverized coals have been used to study the effects of oxygen concentration on combustion characteristics under different enriched-oxygen conditions by entrained flow reactor experiments. The results show that: with the increase of oxygen concentration, the ignition temperature of four coals greatly decreases and the low volatile coals decrease faster; with the increase of oxygen concentration, the ignition mode of pulverized coal has an obviously transformation from homogeneous ignition to heterogeneous ignition, and the corresponding oxygen concentrations are about 40% and 50%-60% respectively for bituminous coal and lignite, and both about 30% for lean coal and anthracite; with the increase of oxygen concentration, the optimal pulverized coal concentrations of bituminous coal and lignite increase firstly and then decrease, but for lean coal and anthracite, the optimal pulverized coal concentrations decrease slowly with the increase of oxygen concentration.

Modeling of a Reverse Flow Reactor for Methanol Synthesis Modeling of a Reverse Flow Reactor for Methanol Synthesis

An accurate one-dimensional, heterogeneous model taking account of axial dispersion and heat transfer to the reactor wall, and heat conduction through the reactor wall for methanol synthesis in a bench scale reactor under periodic reversal of flow direction is presented. Adjustable parameters in this model are the effectiveness factors for each of the three reactions occurring in the synthesis and a factor for the bed to wall heat transfer coefficient correlation. Experimental data were used to evaluate these parameters and reasonable values of these parameters were obtained. The model was found to closely predict the reactor performance under a wide range of operating conditions, such as carbon oxide concentrations, volumetric flow rate, and cyclic period.

Precision Synthesis of a Long-Chain Silane Coupling Agent Using Micro Flow Reactors and Its Application in Dentistry

In dentistry, a wide range of materials is available for restorative treatment;a typical product of such restorative materials mainly consists of radically polymerizable monomer(s) and inorganic filler(s) (for added physical strength), as well as a surface modifier (e.g. silane coupling agent) for improved affinity between monomer and filler. It is favorable to use an optimal surface modifier depending on the respective restorative materials. However, commercially available surface modifiers, which are synthesized by the ton, are not always suited for what is required for properties of the many different dental restorative materials. As a potential solution to such a problem, we focused on the latest technology, “micro flow reactors” that enabled an on-demand low-volume synthesis of many types of surface modifiers. Using micro reaction fields of such flow reactors, we synthesized a novel long-chain silane coupling agent. Compared to the control system synthesized using a conventional reaction flask, the novel system enabled significant reduction in reaction time without inducing any major side reactions. A dental composite resin that was treated with the novel coupling agent exhibited higher toughness, suggesting that such a silane coupling agent was an effective surface modifier.

Continuous Flow Reactor for Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol by Hydrogen Peroxide

The direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol catalyzed by activated carbon-supported Fe （Fe/AC） in acetonitrile using H2O2 as the oxidant was studied in a continuous flow reactor. Results showed that the continuous operation could obtain high phenol yield of 28.1%, coupled with the turnover frequency of 3 h^-1, and high selectivity of 98% under mild condition. The catalyst was characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, Boehm titration, X-ray photoelectron spectra, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. It was observed that iron may interact with the carboxyl group forming iron-carboxylate like species, which act as the active phase. The apparent activation energy obtained by fitting an Arrhenius model to the experimental data was 13.4 kJ/mol. The reaction order was calculated to be about i, 0.2 for benzene and 0.7 for H202.

Application of pH control to a tubular flow reactor

Tubular flow reactors are mainly used in chemical industry and waste water discharged units. Control of output variables is very difficult because of the existence of high dead-time in these types of reactors. In the present work, sodium hydroxide and acetic acid solutions were sent to the tubular flow reactor. The aim was to control p H at 7 in the nonlinear region. The p H control of a tubular flow reactor with high time delay and a highly nonlinear behavior in p H neutralization reaction was investigated experimentally in the face of the various load and set point changes. Firstly, efficiency of conventional Proportional-Integral-Derivative(PID) algorithm in the experiments was tested. Then self-tuning PID(STPID) control system was applied by using the ARMAX model. The model parameters were calculated from input–output data by using PRBS signal as disturbance and Bierman algorithm. Lastly, the experimental fuzzy control of p H based on fuzzy model was achieved to compare the success of fuzzy approach with the performance of other control cases studied.

An Experimental Observation of the Thermal Effects and NO Emissions during Dissociation and Oxidation of Ammonia in the Presence of a Bundle of Thermocouples in a Vertical Flow Reactor

Ammonia (NH3) dissociation and oxidation in a cylindrical quartz reactor has been experimentally studied for various inlet NH3 concentrations (5%, 10%, and 15%) and reactor temperatures between 700 K and 1000 K. The thermal effects during both NH3 dissociation (endothermic) and oxidation (exothermic) were observed using a bundle of thermocouples positioned along the central axis of the quartz reactor, while the corresponding NH3 conversions and nitrogen oxides emissions were determined by analysing the gas composition of the reactor exit stream. A stronger endothermic effect, as indicated by a greater temperature drop during NH3 dissociation, was observed as the NH3 feed concentration and reactor temperature increased. During NH3 oxidation, a predominantly greater exothermic effect with increasing NH3 feed concentration and reactor temperature was also evident;however, it was apparent that NH3 dissociation occurred near the reactor inlet, preceding the downstream NH3 and H2 oxidation. For both NH3 dissociation and oxidation, NH3 conversion increased with increasing temperature and decreasing initial NH3 concentration. Significant levels of NOX emissions were observed during NH3 oxidation, which increased with increasing temperature. From the experimental results, it is speculated that the stainless-steel in the thermocouple bundle may have catalysed NH3 dissociation and thus changed the reaction chemistry during NH3 oxidation.

Flow Field Simulation on Double-Ring Radial Flow Reactor

Compared with the traditional radial flow reactors(RFRs), the double-ring RFRs possess advantages including lower pressure drop, shorter flow path and greater flow area. According to the Ergun's equation and the continuity equation, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model was established to describe the hydrodynamic behavior in the double-ring RFRs. The successive over-relaxation(SOR) method was applied to solve the two-dimensional hydrodynamic model. The flow assignment parameters(T_i) of mass flow in the inner channel to the outer catalyst bed and the inner catalyst bed were optimized by the Powell method. Simulations showed the trend of change in gas distribution uniformity along the axial direction and the weight hourly space velocity(WHSV) with the variation of reactor size. The model can be used to analyze the reasonability of dehydrogenation reactor design, and it can also provide quantitative reference for the design of new double-ring RFRs.

Efficient oxidation of monosaccharides to sugar acids under neutral condition in flow reactors with gold-supported activated carbon catalysts

A significant reaction in the synthesis of biomass-based chemicals is the catalyst-based and targeted oxidation of monosaccharides into valuable sugar acids.In this study,an activated carbon supported gold catalyst was used to oxidize glucose and xylose to gluconic acid and xylonic acid under neutral condition.Optimization of reaction conditions for the catalysts was performed using both a batch reactor and a flow-through reactor.In a batch reactor,the yields of gluconic and xylonic acid reached 93%and 92%,respectively,at 90℃ within 180 min.In a flow reactor,both reactions reached a similar yield at 80℃ with the weight hourly space velocity of 47.1 h^(-1).The reaction kinetics were explored in the flow reactor.The oxidation of glucose and xylose to gluconic and xylonic acid followed a first-order kinetics and the turnover frequency was 0.195 and 0.161 s^(-1),respectively.The activation energy was evaluated to be 60.58 and 59.30 kJ·mol^(-1),respectively.This study presents an environmentally friendly and feasible method for the selective oxidation of monosaccharides using an activated carbon supported gold catalyst,benefiting the high-value application of carbohydrates.

Mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor

In this study, the mercury adsorption characteristics of HBr-modified fly ash in an entrained-flow reactor were investigated through thermal decomposition methods. The results show that the mercury adsorption performance of the HBr-modified fly ash was enhanced significantly. The mercury species adsorbed by unmodified fly ash were Hg Cl2,Hg S and Hg O. The mercury adsorbed by HBr-modified fly ash, in the entrained-flow reactor,existed in two forms, Hg Br2 and Hg O, and the HBr was the dominant factor promoting oxidation of elemental mercury in the entrained-flow reactor. In the current study, the concentration of Hg Br2 and Hg O in ash from the fine ash vessel was 4.6 times greater than for ash from the coarse ash vessel. The fine ash had better mercury adsorption performance than coarse ash, which is most likely due to the higher specific surface area and longer residence time.

Optimal operating conditions of radial flow moving-bed reactors for isobutane dehydrogenation

In this study, radial flow moving bed reactors for isobutane dehydrogenation have been modeled and simulated heterogeneously based on mass and energy conservation laws. The considered reaction networks in the model are isobutene dehydrogenation as main reaction, and hydrogenolysis, propane dehydrogenation as well as coke formation as side reactions that all occur on the catalyst surface. Then, the process condition has been optimized to produce more isobutene under steady state condition. To prove the accuracy of the considered mathematical model and assumptions, simulation results are compared with the plant data. As a powerful method in the global optimization, the genetic algorithm has been used to optimize the considered objective function. The isobutane conversion and isobutene selectivity under optimal conditions are about 40.1% and 91%, respectively.

LOCAL CHAOS CHARACTERISTICS IN A SELF ASPIRATED REVERSED FLOW JET LOOP REACTOR

The local chaos characteristics of the time series pressure fluctuations of gas liquid two phase flow in a self aspirated reversed flow jet loop reactor are studied by the deterministic chaos analysis technique. It is found that the estimated local largest Lyapunov exponent is positive in all cases and the profile is similar to that of the local fractal dimension in this reactor. The positive largest Lyapunov exponent shows that the reactor is a nonlinear chaotic system. The obvious distribution indicates that the local nonlinear characteristic parameters such as the Lyapunov exponent and the fractal dimension could be applied to further study the flow characteristics such as the flow regine transitions and flow structures of the multi phase reactors.

LOCAL NONLINEAR CHARACTERISTICS OF GAS LIQUID SOLID THREE PHASE SELF ASPIRATED REVERSED FLOW JET LOOP REACTOR

Hursts rescaled range (R/S) analysis and Wolfs attractor reconstruction technique have been adopted to estimate the local fractal dimensions and the local largest Lyapunov exponents in terms of the time series pressure fluctuations obtained from a gas liquid solid three phase self aspirated reversed flow jet loop reactor,respectively.The results indicate that the local fractal dimensions and the local largest Lyapunov exponents in both the jet region and the tubular region inside the draft tube increase with the increase in the jet liquid flowrates and the solid loadings,the local fractal dimension profiles are similar to those of the largest Lyapunov exponent,the local largest lyapunov exponents are positive for all cases,and the flow behavior of such a reactor is chaotic.The local nonlinear characteristic parameters such as the local fractal dimension and the local largest Lyapunov exponent could be applied to further study the flow properties such as the flow regime transitions and flow structures of this three phase jet loop reactor.

CFD and experimental investigations on the micromixing performance of single countercurrent-flow microchannel reactor

Microchannel reactors are widely used in different fields due to their intensive micromixing and, thus, high masstransfer efficiency. In this work, a single countercurrent-flow microchannel reactor(S-CFMCR) at the size of ~1 mm was developed by steel micro-capillary and laser drilling technology. Utilizing the Villermaux/Dushman parallel competing reaction, numerical and experimental studies were carried out to investigate the micromixing performance(expressed as the segregation index XS) of liquids inside S-CFMCR at the low flow velocity regime.The effects of various operating conditions and design parameters of S-CFMCR, e.g., inlet Reynolds number(Re),volumetric flow ratio(R), inlet diameter(d) and outlet length(L), on the quality of micromixing were studied qualitatively. It was found that the micromixing efficiency was enhanced with increasing Re, but weakened with the increase of R. Moreover, d and L also have a significant influence on micromixing. CFD results were in good agreement with experimental data. In addition, the visualization of velocity magnitude, turbulent kinetic energy and concentration distributions of various ions inside S-CFMCR was illustrated as well. Based on the incorporation model, the estimated minimum micromixing time tmof S-CFMCR is ~2 × 10-4s.

MHD Stability Analysis and Flow Controls of Liquid Metal Free Surface Film Flows as Fusion Reactor PFCs

Numerical and experimental investigation results on the magnetohydrodynamics（MHD） film flows along flat and curved bottom surfaces are summarized in this study. A simplified modeling has been developed to study the liquid metal MHD film state, which has been validated by the existing experimental results. Numerical results on how the inlet velocity（V）, the chute width（W） and the inlet film thickness（d0） affect the MHD film flow state are obtained. MHD stability analysis results are also provided in this study. The results show that strong magnetic fields make the stable V decrease several times compared to the case with no magnetic field,especially small radial magnetic fields（Bn） will have a significant impact on the MHD film flow state. Based on the above numerical and MHD stability analysis results flow control methods are proposed for flat and curved MHD film flows. For curved film flow we firstly proposed a new multi-layers MHD film flow system with a solid metal mesh to get the stable MHD film flows along the curved bottom surface. Experiments on flat and curved MHD film flows are also carried out and some firstly observed results are achieved.

Numerical Simulation on Gas-Solid Two-Phase Turbulent Flow in FCC Riser Reactors(Ⅱ) Numerical Simulation on the Gas-Solid Two-Phase Turbulent Flow

Numerical simulation on the flow,heat transfer and cracking reactions in commercial fluid catalyticcracking(FCC)riser reactors were carried out employing the developed turbulent gas-solid two-phase flow-reac-tion model for FCC riser reactors given in Part Ⅰ of the present paper.Detailed information about the turbulentflow fields in the riser reactor obtained revealed the basic characteristics of the gas-solid two-phase turbulentflows when heat transfer and catalytic cracking reactions were co-existing in the riser.Results showed that thedistributions of the flow,the turbulence kinetic energy and the catalyst particle concentration are not uniform inthe axial,radial and tangential directions.The most complicated part of the riser reactor is the feed injectingzone.The complicated configuration of the turbulent gas-solid two-phase flows would exert a great influence onthe results of interphase heat transfer and cracking reactions.

Numerical Simulation on Gas-Solid Two-Phase Turbulent Flow in FCC Riser Reactors(Ⅰ) Turbulent Gas-Solid Flow-Reaction Model

Gas-solid two-phase turbulent flows,mass transfer,heat transfer and catalytic cracking reactions areknown to exert interrelated influences in commercial fluid catalytic cracking(FCC)riser reactors.In the presentpaper,a three-dimensional turbulent gas-solid two-phase flow-reaction model for FCC riser reactors was devel-oped.The model took into account the gas-solid two-phase turbulent flows,inter-phase heat transfer,masstransfer,catalytic cracking reactions and their interrelated influence.The k-V-k_P two-phase turbulence modelwas employed and modified for the two-phase turbulent flow patterns with relatively high particle concentration.Boundary conditions for the flow-reaction model were given.Related numerical algorithm was formed and a nu-merical code was drawn up.Numerical modeling for commercial FCC riser reactors could be carried out with thepresented model.

Modeling of Continuous Cross-flow Microfiltration Process in an Airlift External-loop Slurry Reactor

New modified combination mathematical models including the pores blocking models and the cake layer models were developed to describe the continuous cross-flow microfiltration in an airlift external loop slurry reactor. The pores blocking models were created based on the standard blocking law and the intermediate blocking law, and then the cake layer models were developed based on the hydrodynamic theory in which the calculation method of porosity of cake layer was newly corrected. The Air-Water-FCC equilibrium catalysts cold model experiment was used to verify the relevant models.Results showed that the calculated values fitted well with experimental data with a relative error of less than 10%.

Effects of internals on phase holdup and backmixing in a slightly-expanded-bed reactor with gas–liquid concurrent upflow

Five different internals were designed,and their effects on phase holdup and backmixing were investigated in a gas–liquid concurrent upflow reactor where the spherical alumina packing particles of three diameters(3.0,4.5 and6.0 mm)were slightly expanded under the conditions of varied superficial gas velocities(6.77×10-2-3.61×10-1 m·s-1)and superficial liquid velocities(9.47×10-4-2.17×10-3 m·s-1).The experimental results show that the gas holdup increases with the superficial gas velocity and particle size,opposite to the variational trend of liquid holdup.When an internal component is installed amid the upflow reactor,a higher gas holdup,a less liquid holdup and a larger Peclet number characterizing the weaker backmixing are obtained compared to those in the bed without internals under the same operating conditions.Additionally,the minimal backmixing is observed in the reactor equipped with the internals with a novel multi-step design.Finally,empirical correlations were proposed for estimating gas holdup,liquid holdup and Peclet number with the relative deviations within 11%,12%and 25%,respectively.

Flow Field and Temperature Field in GaN-MOCVD Reactor Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling

Metal organic chenlical vapor deposition （AIOCVD） growth systems arc one of the. main types of equipment used for growing single crystal materials, such as GaN. To obtain fihn epitaxial materials with uniform performanee, the flow field and ternperature field in a GaN-MOCVD reactor are investigated by modeling and simulating. To make the simulation results more consistent with the actual situation, the gases in the reactor are considered to be compressible, making it possible to investigate the distributions of gas density and pressure in the reactor. The computational fluid dynamics method is used to stud,v the effects of inlet gas flow velocity, pressure in the reactor, rotational speed of graphite susceptor, and gases used in the growth, which has great guiding~ significance for the growth of GaN fihn materials.