CFD Analysis of Gas Distributor in Packed Column ——Prediction of Gas Flow and Effect of Tower Internals Geometry Structure

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were carried out on the gas flow patterns of twin-tangential annular deflector gas distributor in the absence of liquid flow in a packed column (6.4 m in diameter), and the gas flow field in the column was presented close to reality on the whole. Furthermore, after ame-(lioration) of this gas distributor frame, turbulence energy and turbulence energy dissipation rate were both decreased greatly.Simulation results showed that the flow pattern and the distribution of gas flow were strongly affected by the column bottom frame; the proper column bottom frame could decrease the flow pressure drop greatly. Multifold factors, such as the column bottom geometry structure and distributor structure which affects the distribution capacity, must be considered.

Effect of Gas Distributor Structure on Fluidization Characteristics in a Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed

In the present paper,the experimental method and computational fluid dynamics(CFD)method were used to investigate the effect of gas distributors with different orifice sizes and orifice pitches on fluidization characteristics in a gas-solid fluidized bed.The Euler-Euler two fluid model(TFM)approach based on the kinetic theory of granular flow(KTGF)and the standard k-epsilon turbulence model was employed in the numerical simulation by using ANSYS Fluent 15.0.The results showed that the orifice size and the orifice pitch of gas distributor had a significant influence on the flow characteristics in the gas-solid fluidized bed.With a decreasing orifice size and orifice pitch of gas distributor having the same opening area,the distributor pressure drop,the initial bubble size,and the height of dead zone just above the distributor were decreased,and the bed pressure drop was increased more than that of the larger orifice size and orifice pitch of distributors,the distribution of solid volume fraction was also more homogeneous for the smaller orifice size.

MASS TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MEMBRANEOUS GAS DISTRIBUTOR

1 INTRODUCTIONIt is well known that the throughput of many gas-liquid reactors is limited by the rate atwhich a gaseous component can be transferred from the gas to the liquid.For example,it isthe oxygen transfer capacity of a fermentor that set the upper limit to the productivity ofmost aerobic fermentation.Therefore,studies have been in progress to increase the masstransfer rate between the gas bubble and the broth by acting on classical parameters of bubblesize and the turbulence of flow.However,the intensive turbulence of flow usually

Optimal Design of Two-Chamber Gas Distributor with CFD Approach

Computational fluid dynamics( CFD) is used to investigate a new type of two-chamber natural gas distributor,which has a natural gas inlet and nine nozzle outlets. The uniformity at the outlet of distributor is practice proven to have significant degree influence on its comprehensive performance. To improve the uniformity at the nozzles of the gas distributor,CFD modeling with the RNG k-ε turbulence model is undertaken to understand the mass flow rate of nozzles with reference to different length of chambers and the most optimal length is obtained. The internal flow pattern of the natural gas distributor is analyzed. It is found that the local maximum deviation of the nozzle outflow rate increases with the increase of chambers length when the length is more than 64 mm. The results provide useful suggestions for the optimal design of two-chamber natural gas distributor.

Optimal design of gas distributor in fluidized bed for synthesis of silicone monomer

The structure of the gas distributor is closely related to the production efficiency of organosilicon monomers.To improve the production efficiency of organosilicon monomers,this study uses Eulerian-Eulerian two fluid model and proposes a design formula for the gas distributor to optimize the gas distributor.It is proposed that the pressure drop of the gas distributor,the velocity nonuniformity coefficient,the relative standard deviation of the solid holdup,and the solid particle dispersion coefficient are used to evaluate the performance of the gas distributor.The results show that the performance of the gas distributor is significantly improved when the opening ratioΦ=0.53%is optimized toΦ=0.18%,in which the relative standard deviation of the solid holdup is reduced by 22%,and the solid particle dispersion coefficient is reduced by 40%.On this basis,this article studies the influence of different arrangements of vent holes on gas-solid fluidization characteristics.The results show that the circular arrangement of vent holes is helpful to the mixing of gas and solid.

Modeling bubble column reactor with the volume of fluid approach:Comparison of surface tension models

This work aims at comparing surface tension models in VOF(Volume of Fluid) modeling and investigating the effects of gas distributor and gas velocity. Hydrodynamics of a continuous chain of bubbles inside a bubble column reactor was simulated. The grid independence study was first conducted and a grid size of 1.0 mm was adopted in order to minimize the computing time without compromising the accuracy of the results. The predictions were validated by comparing the experimental studies reported in the literature. It was found that all surface tension models can describe the bubble rise and bubble plume in a column with slight deviations.

Numerical simulation of effect of gas distributor on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in fluidized-bed reactor

Circular and branched pipe distributors were designed for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in a fluidized-bed reactor. A numerical investigation of the effects of these distributors on product selectivity and production rate was performed. Under the same conditions, the circular distributor gave higher production rates for small diameter particles. For superficial gas velocities ranging from 5 to 15 times the minimum fluidization velocity, the production rates of methane and C5+(the sum of C10H22 and C22H46)were 18%, which was 2% higher than those using the branched pipe distributor, while the C5+ selectivity was 1% lower. For deeper beds, the circular distributor led to higher production rates and the selectivity for C5+ was 5% lower than that using the branched pipe distributor.

Effects of internals and distributors on the distribution and growth of bubbles in the conventional gas-solid fluidized bed

The effects of internals and gas distributors on the local dynamics of the bubbles in the conventional gas-solid fluidized bed were studied.Mesh-type internals with different opening areas(50%,70%and 90%)and different arrangements(two-layer and four-layer);and a sintered plate with a smaller pore size(1μm)and a perforated plate with a larger pore size as distributors were investigated.Differential pressure drops and local solids holdups were measured under various superficial gas velocities to compare the performances of the different types of internals and distributors.The instantaneous solids holdup signals from the optical fibre probe were used to further examine the local bubble dynamics in detail.Smaller bubbles were found,with the installation of internals or using the sintered plate,resulting in lower pressure drops and a higher bed expansion.Internals with reduced opening area or distributor with smaller pore size further leads to a higher changeover rate between the bubbles and dense phase,both axially and radially,and hence a better gas-solid contacting and an earlier transition to the turbulent flow regime of the bed.

Flow Field of Circulating Fluidized Bed Reactor with Venturi Inlet Configuration

Different two-equation k-ε models were used to simulate the gas flow field generated by a new type of circulating fluidized bed reactor with venturi gas distributor. The numerical results were compared with the experimental data. It has been shown that the simulation results from the standard k-ε model have the best match with the experimental data. Based on this model, the gas flow field in the venturi diffuser and riser was analyzed by the concept of velocity nonuniformity and dead zone percentage. Both the nonuniformity of gas velocity and the dead zone percentage reach the maximum at the venturi outlet due to the effect of the vortex. At the same time, it provides a good platform for the further optimization of the inlet configuration of circulating fluidized bed reactor.

Hydrodynamic Behavior in a Tapered Bubble Column

The experiment was conducted to explore the hydrodynamics in a conical column with a height of 3.00 m, and a taper angle of 1.91°. Three regimes occur in succession with increasing superficial gas velocity. Overall gas holdup increases with an increase in gas velocity and a decrease in solid concentration or static slurry height. Axial solid holdup becomes more uniform with increasing gas velocity, while axial gas holdup decreases from the bottom to the top. Both dry and wet pressure drops across the gas distributor increase with an increase in superficial gas velocity.

Two-phase flow distributors for fuel cell flow channels

All existing proton exchange membrane （PEM） fuel cell gas flow fields have been designed on the basis of single-phase gas flow distribution. The presence of liquid water in the flow causes non-uniform gas distribution, leading to poor cell performance. This paper demonstrates that a gas flow restrictor/distributor, as is commonly used in two-phase flow to stabilize multiphase transport lines and multiphase reactors, can improve the gas flow distribution by significantly reducing gas real-distribution caused by either non-uniform water formation in parallel flow channels or flow instability associated with negative-slope pressure drop characteristic of two-phase horizontal flow systems.