Measurements of the effective mass transfer areas for the gas–liquid rotating packed bed

Rotating packed bed(RPB) is one of the most effective gas–liquid mass transfer enhancement reactors, its effective specific mass transfer area(ae) is critical to understand the mass transfer process. By using the NaOH–CO_(2) chemical absorption method, the aevalues of three RPB reactors with different rotor sizes were measured under different operation conditions. The results showed that the high gravity factor and liquid flow rate were major affecting factors, while the gas flow rate exhibited minor influence.The radius of packing is the dominant equipment factor to affect aevalue. The results indicated that the contact area depends on the dispersion of the liquid phase, thus the centrifugal force of rotating packed bed greatly influenced the aevalue. Moreover, the measured ae/ap(effective specific mass transfer area/specific surface area of packing) values were fitted with dimensionless correlation formulas. The unified correlation formula with dimensionless bed size parameter can well predict the experimental data and the prediction errors were within 15%.

Packed Bed Thermocline Thermal Energy Storage for Medium-Temperature Concentrating Solar Systems: Numerical and Experimental Study

Thermal Energy Storage is becoming a necessary component of sustainable energy production systems as it helps alleviate intrinsic limitations of Renewable Energy Sources, such as intermittent use and mismatch between power demand and supply. This paper discusses a packed bed thermocline tank as a thermal energy storage solution. Firstly, this paper presents the development of a numerical model calculating heat transfers within the tank, based on a discretization over several nodes and the nodal formulation of the heat balance equation. The model considers a filler material and a heat transferring fluid and uses the finite difference method to calculate the temperature evolution of the two media across the tank. The model was validated with two different packed bed systems from the literature during a discharging process, presenting a good fit with the experimental results. Secondly, the experimental packed bed is presented and characterized for a charging cycle from ambient temperature to approximately 180?C. The charging experiment was accurately reproduced with the numerical model requiring minimal computational time. Two additional charging modes were simulated with different inlet HTF conditions: constant temperature and varying temperature following the profile produced by a thermal solar collector field. The temperature profiles obtained from the three charging modes were analysed and compared to each other. The proposed numerical and experimental tools will be used in future studies for a better understanding of the design and operating conditions of packed bed thermal energy storage systems.

Effect of Radial Porosity Oscillation on the Thermal Performance of Packed Bed Latent Heat Storage

Owing to its high heat storage capacity and fast heat transfer rate,packed bed latent heat storage(LHS)is considered as a promising method to store thermal energy.In a packed bed,the wall effect can impact the packing arrangement of phase change material(PCM)capsules,inducing radial porosity oscillation.In this study,an actual-arrangement-based three-dimensional packed bed LHS model was built to consider the radial porosity oscillation.Its fluid flow and heat transfer were analyzed.With different cylindrical sub-surfaces intercepted along the radial direction in the packed bed,the corresponding relationships between the arrangement of capsules and porosity oscillation were identified.The oscillating distribution of radial porosity led to a non-uniform distribution of heat transfer fluid(HTF)velocity.As a result,radial temperature distributions and liquid fraction distributions of PCMs were further affected.The effects of different dimensionless parameters(e.g.,tube-to-capsule diameter ratio,Reynolds number,and Stefan number)on the radial characteristics of HTF and PCMs were discussed.The results showed that different diameter ratios correspond to different radial porosity distributions.Further,with an increase in diameter ratio,HTF velocity varies significantly in the near wall region while the non-uniformity of HTF velocity in the center region will decrease.The Reynolds and Stefan numbers slightly impact the relative velocity distribution of the HTF-while higher Reynolds numbers can lead to a proportional improvement of velocity,an increase in Stefan number can promote heat storage of the packed bed LHS system.

Computational fluid dynamic simulation of gas-liquid flow in rotating packed bed:A review

The rotating packed bed(RPB)has been widely used in gas-liquid flow systems as a process intensification device,exhibiting excellent mass transfer enhancement characteristics.However,the complex internal structure and the high-speed rotation of the rotor in RPB bring significant challenges to study the intensification mechanism by experiment methods.In the past two decades,Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)has been gradually applied to simulate the hydrodynamics and mass transfer characteristics in RPB and instruct the reactor design.This article covers the development of the CFD simulation of gasliquid flow in RPB.Firstly,the improvement of the simulation method in the aspect of mathematical models,geometric models,and solving methods is introduced.Secondly,new progress of CFD simulation about hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics in RPB is reviewed,including pressure drop,velocity distribution,flow pattern,and concentration distribution,etc.Some new phenomena such as the end effect area with the maximum turbulent have been revealed by this works.In addition,the exploration of developing new reactor structures by CFD simulation is introduced and it is proved that such new structures are competitive to different applications.The defects of current research and future development directions are also discussed at last.

Catalytic decomposition and mass transfer of aqueous ozone promoted by Fe-Mn-Cu/γ-Al2O_(3) in a rotating packed bed

This study investigated catalytic decomposition and mass transfer of aqueous ozone promoted by Fe-MnCu/γ-Al_(2)O_(3)(Cat)in a rotating packed bed(RPB)for the first time.The results showed that the value of the overall decomposition rate constant of ozone(K_(c))and overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient(K_(L)a)are 4.28×10^(-3) s^(-1) and 11.60×10^(-3) s^(-1) respectively at an initial pH of 6,βof 40,Co3(g)of 60 mg·L^(-1)and Q_(L) of 85 L·h^(-1) in deionized water,respectively.Meanwhile,the K_(c) and K_(L)a values of Fenhe water are0.88×10^(-3) s^(-1) and 2.51×10^(-3) s^(-1) lower than deionized water,respectively.In addition,the K_(c) and K_(L)a values in deionized water for the Cat/O_(3)-RPB system are 44.86%and 47.41%higher than that for the Cat/O_(3)-BR(bubbling reactor)system,respectively,indicating that the high gravity technology can facilitate the decomposition and mass transfer of ozone in heterogeneous catalytic ozonation and provide some insights into the industrial wastewater.

Numerical simulation and experimental study of the characteristics of packing feature size on liquid flow in a rotating packed bed

Rotating packed bed has high efficiency of gas-liquid mass transfer.So it is significant to investigate fluid motion in rotating packed bed.Numerical simulations of the effects of packing feature size on liquid flow characteristics in a rotating packed bed are reported in this paper.The particle image velocimetry is compared with the numerical simulations to validate the turbulent model.Results show that the liquid exists in the packing zone in the form of droplet and liquid line,and the cavity is droplet.When the radial thickness of the packing is less than 0.101 m,liquid line and droplets appear in the cavity.When rotational speed and radial thickness of the packing increase,the average diameter of the droplets becomes smaller,and the droplet size distribution becomes uniform.As the initial velocity of the liquid increases,the average droplet diameter increases and the uniformity of particle size distribution become worse.The droplet velocity increases with the radial thickness of the packing increasing,and gradually decreases when it reaches the cavity region.The effect of packing thickness is most substantial through linear fitting.The predicted and simulated values are within±15%.The cumulative volume distribution curves of the experimental and simulated droplets are consistent with the R-R distribution.

Industrial application of the technique of removing Mo by a combination of moving packed bed and fluidized bed ion exchange

The application of the technique of removing molybdenum by moving packed bedand fluidized bed ion-exchange in a factory was described. The data showed that the Mo removalefficiency is above 99 percent, and the Mo content in APT (Ammonium Paratungstate) is controlledsteadily below 18 X l0^(-6), in the case of treating the feed liquor containing Mo 1.4 g/L. Thetechnique is simple and convenient in operation, good reusability of resin, loss consumption ofdesorption reagent and little pollution on environment. The loss of tungsten is less than 0.5percent. The technique bas been proved to be an economical and efficient process for Mo removal.

Preparation and characterization of NaY zeolite in a rotating packed bed

NaY Zeolite was synthesized in a rotating packed bed （RPB） for the first time. A Si-A1 gel with a specific composition was used as the structure-directing agent. The as-synthesized NaY Zeolite was characterized with scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and specific surface area （BET）. The characterization result showed that the NaY Zeolite had a particle size of approximately 200 rim, n（SiO2）/n（Al203） ratio of 5.03, crystallinity of 96% and specific surface area of 714 m2/g. The experimental results indicated that the structure of NaY Zeolite was related to the synthesis conditions （such as reactors, crystallization time and so on）. The micromixing efficiency was proven to be the most important factor for synthesis of NaY Zeolite in the high-gravity environment in RPB.

Liquid-solid mass transfer in a rotating packed bed reactor with structured foam packing

A rotating packed bed(RPB) reactor has substantially potential for the process intensification of heterogeneous catalytic reactions. However, the scarce knowledge of the liquid–solid mass transfer in the RPB reactor is a barrier for its design and scale-up. In this work, the liquid–solid mass transfer in a RPB reactor installed with structured foam packing was experimentally studied using copper dissolution by potassium dichromate. Effects of rotational speed, liquid and gas volumetric flow rate on the liquid–solid mass transfer coefficient(kLS) have been investigated. The correlation for predicting kLSwas proposed, and the deviation between the experimental and predicted values was within±12%. The liquid–solid volumetric mass transfer coefficient(kLSaLS) ranged from 0.04–0.14 1^-1, which was approximately 5 times larger than that in the packed bed reactor. This work lays the foundation for modeling of the RPB reactor packed with structured foam packing for heterogeneous catalytic reaction.

Comparison of Mass Transfer Characteristics between Countercurrent-Flow and Crosscurrent-Flow Rotating Packed Bed

The rotating packed bed(RPB), mainly including the countercurrent-flow RPB(Counter-RPB) and the crosscurrentflow RPB(Cross-RPB) that are classified from the perspective of gas-liquid contact style, is a novel process intensification device. A significant measurement standard for evaluating the performance of RPB is the mass transfer effect. In order to compare the mass transfer characteristics of Counter-RPB and Cross-RPB with the same size, the liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient(k_La_e) and effective interfacial area(a_e) were measured under identical operating conditions. Meanwhile, the comparison of comprehensive mass transfer performance was conducted using the ratio of ΔP(pressure drop) to kLae as the standard. Experimental results indicated that kLae and ae increased with the increase in liquid spray density q, gas velocity u, and high gravity factor β. Furthermore, compared with the Cross-RPB, the Counter-RPB has higher liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient and slightly larger effective interfacial area. The experimental results of comprehensive mass transfer performance showed that the Counter-RPB had higher ΔP/k_La_e than the Cross-RPB with changes in liquid spray density and high gravity factor, and there exists a turning point at 0.71 m/s accompanied by a variation with gas velocity. Moreover, the relative error of experimental value to calculated value, which was computed by the correlative expressions of kLae, was less than 5 %. In conclusion, the mass transfer characteristics of RPB are deeply impacted by the manner in which the flows are established and the Cross-RPB would have a great potential for industrial scale-up applications.

Dripping and evolution behavior of primary slag bearing TiO2 through the coke packed bed in a blast-furnace hearth

To investigate the flow of primary slag bearing TiO2 in the cohesive zone of blast furnaces, experiments were carded out based on the laboratory-scale packed bed systems. It is concluded that the initial temperature of slag dripping increases with decreasing FeO content and increasing TiO2 content. The slag holdup decreases when the FeO content is in the range of 5wt%-10wt%, whereas it increases when the FeO content exceeds 10wt% . Meanwhile, the slag holdup decreases when the TiO2 content increases from 5wt% to 10wt% but increases when the TiO2 content exceeds 10wt%. Moreover, slag/coke interface analysis shows that the reaction between FeO and TiO2 occurs be- tween the slag and the coke. The slag/coke interface is divided into three layers： slag layer, iron-rich layer, and coke layer. TiO2 in the slag is reduced by carbon, and the generated Ti diffuses into iron.

Research and development of advanced structured packing in a rotating packed bed

As the core component of the rotating packing bed,packing is a place for efficient gas–liquid mixing and mass transfer.In this paper,a 3D structured packing composed of a mesh structure and a support structure was designed.The mesh structure is a ring-shaped mesh surrounded by triangular meshes,which is stable in structure and can achieve a high degree of dispersion and aggregation of the liquid phase.The support structure is composed of ring-shaped structural units arranged at a certain angle along the axial direction,which can enhance the turbulence of the airflow while constructing regular gas-phase channels.Circumferential steel meshes of different diameters and supporting structures are alternately combined to form 3D packing,which is loaded in a layered cross-flow rotating packing bed.The results show that under the same operating conditions,the mass transfer performance of 3D packing and wire mesh packing are equivalent,and both are better than pall ring packing.Moreover,the pressure drop of 3D packing is significantly lower than that of pall ring packing and wire mesh packing.The design and implementation of packing the development presented in this paper can be used to develop special structured packing for rotating bed,which can further improve the performance of rotating packed bed(RPB).

Preparation of Pd/c-Al_(2)O_(3)/nickel foam monolithic catalyst and its performance for selective hydrogenation in a rotating packed bed reactor

Selective hydrogenation plays an important role in chemical industries,yet its selectivity is usually limited by the mass transfer.In this work,the enhanced hydrogenation selectivity was achieved in a rotating packed bed(RPB)reactor with excellent mass transfer efficiency.Aiming to be used under the centrifugal filed,a monolithic catalyst Pd/c-Al_(2)O_(3)/nickel foam suiting for the shape and size of the rotor of RPB reactor was prepared by the electrophoretic deposition method.The mechanical strength of the catalyst can meet the requirement of high centrifugal force in the RPB.The hydrogenation selectivity in the RPB reactor using the 3-methyl-1-pentyn-3-ol hydrogenation system was 3–8 times higher than that in a stirred tank reactor under similar conditions.This work proves the feasibility of intensifying the selectivity of hydrogenation process in the RPB reactor.

Controllable and high-throughput preparation of microdroplet using an ultra-high speed rotating packed bed

Microdroplets and their dispersion,with a large specific surface area and a short diffusion distance,have been applied in various unit operations and reaction processes.However,it is still a challenge to control the size and size distribution of microdroplets,especially for high-throughput generation.In this work,a novel ultra-high speed rotating packed bed(UHS-RPB)was invented,in which rotating foam packing with a speed of 4000-12000 r·min^(-1) provides microfluidic channels to disperse liquid into microdroplets with high throughput.Then generated microdroplets can be directly dispersed into a continuous falling film for obtaining a mixture of microdroplet dispersion.In this UHS-RPB,the effects of rotational speed,liquid initial velocity,liquid viscosity,liquid surface tension and packing pore size on the average size(d_(32))and size distribution of microdroplets were systematically investigated.Results showed that the UHS-RPB could produce microdroplets with a d_(32) of 25-63μm at a liquid flow rate of 1025 L·h^(-1),and the size distribution of the microdroplets accords well with Rosin-Rammler distribution model.In addi-tion,a correlation was established for the prediction of d_(32),and the predicted d_(32) was in good agreement with the experimental data with a deviation within±15%.These results demonstrated that UHS-RPB could be a promising candidate for controllable preparation of uniform microdroplets.

Investigation of thermochemical process of coal particle packed bed reactions for the development of UCG

In this study,a packed bed reactor was developed to investigate the gasification process of coal particles.The effects of coal particle size and heater temperature of reactor were examined to identify the thermochemical processes through the packed bed.Three different coal samples with varying size,named as A,B,and C,are used,and the experimental results show that the packed bed with smaller coal size has higher temperature,reaching 624°C,582°C,and 569°C for coal A,B,and C,respectively.In the case of CO formation,the smaller particle size has greater products in the unit of mole fraction over the area of generation.However,the variation in the porosity of the packed bed due to different coal particle sizes affects the reactions through the oxygen access.Consequently,the CO formation is least from the coal packed bed formed by the smallest particle size A.A second test with the temperature variations shows that the higher heater temperature promotes the chemical reactions,resulting in the increased gas products.The findings indicate the important role of coal seam porosity in underground coal gasification application,as well as temperature to promote the syngas productions.

Degradation of tiamulin by a packed bed dielectric barrier plasma combined with TiO_(2)catalyst

Recently,a plasma catalyst was employed to efflciently degrade antibiotic residues in the environment.In this study,the plasma generated in a packed bed dielectric barrier reactor combined with TiO_(2)catalyst is used to degrade the antibiotic tiamulin(TIA)loaded on the surface of simulated soil particles.The effects of applied voltage,composition of the working gas,gas flow rate and presence or absence of catalyst on the degradation effect were studied.It was found that plasma and catalyst can produce a synergistic effect under optimal conditions(applied voltage 25 k V,oxygen ratio 1%,gas flow rate 0.6 l min^(-1),treatment time 5 min).The degradation efflciency of the plasma combined with catalyst can reach 78.6%,which is 18.4%higher than that of plasma without catalyst.When the applied voltage is 30 k V,the gas flow rate is 1 l min^(-1),the oxygen ratio is 1%and the plasma combined with TiO_(2)catalyst treats the sample for 5 min the degradation efflciency of TIA reached 97%.It can be concluded that a higher applied voltage and longer processing times not only lead to more degradation but also result in a lower energy efflciency.Decreasing the oxygen ratio and gas flow rate could improve the degradation efflciency.The relative distribution and identity of the major TIA degradation product generated was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis.The mechanism of TIA removal by plasma and TiO_(2)catalyst was analyzed,and the possible degradation path is discussed.

Synthesis of Silver Sulf ide Quantum Dots Via the Liquid–Liquid Interface Reaction in a Rotating Packed Bed Reactor

We developed the high-gravity coupled liquid-liquid interface reaction technique on the basis of the rotating packed bed(RPB)reactor for the continuous and ultrafast synthesis of silver sulfide(Ag2S)quantum dots(QDs)with near-infrared(NIR)luminescence.The formation of Ag2S QDs occurs at the interface of microdroplets,and the average size of Ag2S QDs was 4.5 nm with a narrow size distribution.Ag2S QDs can disperse well in various organic solvents and exhibit NIR luminescence with a peak wavelength at 1270 nm under 980-nm laser excitation.The mechanism of the process intensification was revealed by both the computational fluid dynamics simulation and fluorescence imaging,and the mechanism is attributed to the small and uniform droplet formation in the RPB reactor.This study provides a novel approach for the continuous and ultrafast synthesis of NIR Ag2S QDs for potential scale-up.

NO_x Formation from Several Chinese Coals during Combustion in Packed Bed

The formation characteristics of NO_x during combustion of four typical Chinese coals have been studied in a packed bed combustor. The studies included the effects of chemical composition of coals and volatile matters, and combustion conditions, i.e. preheating temperatures of combustion gas, on conversion of NO_x during combustion. In term of the combustion experiments, there is a close relation between coal composition and conversions of NO_x. Coals with a higher nitrogen content give a lower F_(NO_x)~0, and coals with a higher volatile content give a lower F_(NO_x)~0. The further devolatilization experiments showed that volatile matters in the coal have an important effect on reducing conversion of coal-nitrogen to NO_x. It was interpreted as that the release of volatile matters during combustion caused a fuel-rich circumstance in the vicinity of coal particles which may restrain the formation of NO_x. Preheating temperatures of combustion gas has significant effects on conversions of NO_x and there exist a critical preheating temperature. At such temperature, lower F_(NO_x)~0 can be reached.

Experimental study on the effect of using nut coke on the permeability of packed beds in blast furnaces

The charging pattern may affect blast furnace permeability, coke ratio, and the freedom to select lowgrade raw materials. Ore-coke mixed charging is a potential technique for optimizing the charging pattern. In recent years,charging small-sized coke （nut coke） into the burden layer has been applied to save raw materials and decrease cost. Although mixed charging, especially adding nut coke into the burden layer, may have many advantages, the mechanisms and side effects of nut coke use are not well understood, and the mixing ratio is still limited in industrial blast furnace operation. In this study ,the status of mixed charging, especially nut coke used in blast furnaces, was investigated. A cold flow model was established to study the permeability of the packed bed in the blast furnace ＂dry zone＂ under different conditions with the aim of better understanding the mechanisms of mixing coke and nut coke into the burden layer. The effect of coke size, mixing coke ratio, layer numbers, and gas flow rate on the pressure drop of the packed bed was investigated. The experimental results show that mixing the nut coke in the ore layers decreases the pressure drop to different extents depending on mixing ratio.

Multi-point temperature measurements in packed beds using phosphor thermometry and ray tracing simulations

Packed bed reactors are commonly found in the process industry,for example in flame-assisted calci-nation for cement production.Understanding the heat transfer inside the bed is essential for process control,product quality and energy efficiency.Here we propose a technique to determine the internal temperature distribution of packed beds based on a combination of lifetime-based phosphor ther-mometry,ray tracing simulations,and assimilation of temperature data using finite element heat transfer simulations.To establish and validate the technique,we considered a reproducible regular packing of 6 mm diameter aluminum spheres,with one of the spheres in the top layer being electrically heated.If a sphere inside the packing is coated with thermographic phosphors and excitation light is directed to-wards the packing,luminescence from the coated sphere exits the packed bed after multiple reflection and the sphere's temperature can be determined.Isothermal measurements showed that the temper-ature obtained by phosphor thermometry is independent of the luminescent sphere location.When imaging the luminescence on a camera,the luminescence distribution in recorded image depended,however,on the position of the sphere.Therefore,in setups with multiple phosphor-coated spheres,their signals can be separated using a least squares fit.We demonstrate the approach using a setup with three luminescent spheres and validated the temperature readings against thermocouple measurements.To obtain the spatial signatures for individual sphere positions required for the least squares fit,ray tracing simulations were used.These provide an efficient alternative to single sphere measurements that are only practical for regular spherical packed beds.Multi-point measurements were used as input to a finite element heat transfer simulations to determine parameters such as particle-to-particle air gap distance.With these,the full temperature distribution inside the bed could be assimilated from the measured values.