Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in a Modified Three-phase Airlift Loop Reactor

A modified internal-loop airlif reactor （MIALR） with a continuous slurry phase was studied to investigate the local hydrodynamic characteristics, including gas holdup, bubble size, bubble rise velocity and local mass transfer properties. Based on the analysis of geometrical construction and fluid properties of gas and slurry, MIALR was divided into six flow regions. In these flow regions, the local hydrodynamic characteristics were investigated over a wide range of operating variables. Furthermore, a new method was developed to measure the dissolved oxygen concentration. The volumetric mass-transfer coefficient in six flow regions was also calculated for comparison.

Structure optimization of gas-liquid combined loop reactor using a CFD-PBE coupled model

Flow characteristics, such as flow pattern, gas holdup, and bubble size distribution, in an internal loop reactor with external liquid circulation, are simulated to investigate the influence of reactor internals by using the computational fluid dynamics （CFD）-population balance equations （PBE） coupled model. Numerical results reveal that introducing a downcomer tube and a draft tube can help to improve the mass and heat transfer of the reactor through enhanced liquid circulation, increased gas holdup and reduced bubble diameter. The hydrodynamic behavior in the internal loop reactor with external liquid circulation can be managed effectively by adjusting the diameter and axial position of the draft tube.

SIMULATION OF EFFECTS OF REACTIVE IMPURITIES ON PROPYLENE POLYMERIZATION IN LOOP REACTORS THROUGH GENERATION FUNCTION TECHNIQUE

The estimation of the amount of reactive impurities in a loop reactor is of strategic importance to the propylene polymerization industry. It is essential to investigate the level of impurities in order to develop reliable monitoring and control strategies. This paper described one approach based on generation function technique with the following two steps. First, a new mechanism for propylene polymerization was proposed by considering the effects of the reactive impurities in the material on the propylene polymerization. Second, a series of equations of population balance for the propylene polymerization in loop reactors were established based on the proposed mechanism. Accordingly, the equations were transformed into the mathematic matrix through the generation function technique to investigate the effects of the reactive impurities on the propylene polymerization. Significant effects of the reactive impurities were analyzed through computational simulation. The results show that the concentration of active centre on catalysts and the polymerization conversion both decrease with the increase of the initial concentration of any reactive impurity; hydrogen concentration decreases with the increase of the initial concentration of ethylene or butylenes, whereas, it increases with the increase of the initial concentration of propadiene; the simulated weight average molecular weight and the molecular weight distribution index of polymer resins both increase with the increase of the initial concentration of ethylene or butylenes. They decrease with the increase of the initial concentration of propadiene.

Hydrodynamic Instability Analysis of the Axial Flow Pump in an Ethylene Polymerization Loop Reactor

The hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump in a loop reactor has long been a troubling issue to be solved in the polyethylene industry due to the lack of a better mechanismic understanding.Generally,the instability of an axial flow pump can be reflected by the fluctuation of the pump head.In this study,the transient computational fluid dynamics(CFD)simulation is adopted to study the hydrodynamic instability of the axial flow pump used in an ethylene polymerization loop reactor.The results show that the pump head under single liquid phase nearly remains constant while the pump head under slurry phase fluctuates due to the variation of solid volume fraction distribution in the pump.Besides,under the combined effect of the maximum solid volume fraction difference in the pump and the turbulence intensity of the liquid phase,the fluctuation of the pump head under slurry phase increases when the solid volume fraction in the loop reactor increases from 0.10 to 0.29,and the fluctuation decreases,when the solid volume fraction increases from 0.29 to 0.35.Furthermore,there is a negative correlation between the pump head and the solid volume fraction in the pump;with the increase of solid volume fraction in the loop reactor,and the correlation coefficient increases as well.Moreover,a‘spiral particulate band’phenomenon is formed in the ascending leg caused by three mechanisms,viz.:the segregation of particles in all bends,the dispersion of particles by the secondary flow in the ascending leg,and the rotational movement of particles in the pump.

Regeneration of waste SCR catalyst by air lift loop reactor

A solution of 0.1 mol/L to 1.0 mol/L H2SO4 can dissolve alkali metals and alkaline earth metals which weaken an active site of SCR catalyst. The waste catalyst washed with 0.5 mol/L H2SO4 regained the best catalytic activity. When a concentration of the sulfuric acid is less than 0.5 mol/L, sufficient cleaning effects cannot be obtained. In contrast, when the concentration is greater than 1.0 mol/L, the active components, vanadium and tungsten are undesirably eluted. The total BET surface of the catalyst regenerated by air lift loop reactor showed almost the same as that of fresh catalyst due to the removal of insoluble compounds which may be penetrated into pores of catalyst. The addition of a solution of 0.075 mol/L ammonium vanadate (NH4VO3) and 0.075 mol/L ammonium paratungstate (5(NH4)2O·12WO3 ·5H2O) to 0.1 mol/L H2SO4 significantly increases the activity of the waste catalyst.

Treatment of Dimethoate Aqueous Solution by Using Ultrasonic Airlift Loop Reactor

为废水处理的超声的空运循环反应堆(UALR ) 表演潜力和宽申请。在这篇论文，在 dimethoate 降级的 UALR 的性能和效率被介绍。降解速率上的 dimethoate 的 O3 流量，超声的紧张和起始浓度的效果是强加的 investigated.UALR 把 sonochemical 优点与高 O3 相结合的 synergistic 输送率。结果显示出那 UALR 不仅增加了降解速率，而且独立比由 O3 和超声的降级的简单的和好。在 0.34 m^3 ·h 的 O3 流动的操作条件下面，超声的紧张 3.71 W ·c m^(在 20 mg ·L ^的 dimethoate 的 -2),and 起始浓度(增加到80% .UALR 的 dimethoate 的 -1),the 降解速率为对待器官的废水和这进程似乎是一种明智的选择可以有宽申请在工业的前景。

Transfer Characteristics in Mechanically Stirred Airlift Loop Reactors with or without Static Mixers

The mechanically stirred internal loop airlift reactors equipped with or without static mixers are devised for intensification of gas-liquid mass transfer rate. The influences of superficial gas velocity, agitation or static mixers on gas hold-up, mixing time, liquid circulating velocity and volumetric mass transfer coefficient have been investigated with tap water and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) aqueous solution. The experimental results indicate that mechanical agitation is more efficacious than static mixer in highly viscous media for improving mass transfer in airlift reactors. The empirical correlation of volumetric mass transfer coefficient with apparent viscosity, and energy consumption for mechanical agitation and aeration is developed.

Comparative experimental study on reactive crystallization of Ni(OH)2 in an airlift-loop reactor and a stirred reactor

The objective of this work is to study the reactive crystallization in an airlift-loop reactor(ALR)using the precipitation of Ni(OH)_2 as a model reaction.The growth of Ni(OH)_2 particles in an ALR and a stirred tank was quantified by scanning electronic microscope(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD),laser particle analyzer,tap densitometer and optical microscope,and the growth process of Ni(OH)_2 particles is analyzed.It is found that the Ni(OH)_2 particles prepared in an ALR have a better sphericity than those in a stirred tank and the growth of Ni(OH)_2 particle tap density mainly depends on the size of crystallites:the bigger the size of crystallites,the bigger the tap density is.Based on these,the growth process of Ni(OH)_2 particles in ALR is elaborated.Crystallites precipitated from solution aggregate to form large particles with much void.These constituting crystallites continue to grow up,that takes up the void inside particles and makes the tap density increase.

HYDRODYNAMIC STUDIES ON LOOP REACTORS (Ⅱ) AIRLIFT LOOP REACTORS

Hydrodynamics of airlift loop reactors was studied in detail experimentally andtheoretically.An internal airlift loop reactor was designed and set up for this study.An instru-mentation system based on the electrochemical method was adapted to measure local gas holdup andliquid velocity.A two-dimensional two-fluid model based on the first principles was established andimplemented to model the flow in airlift loop reactors.A corrected turbulent model was incorporatedin the simulation.The shear rate,shear stress and energy dissipation are evaluated from the flowfield.The numerically predicted results and experimental data obtained from this work as well as thesereported in literature are analyzed and compared.

Epoxidation of Cyclohexene with Oxygen in Ultrasound Airlift Loop Reactor

Epoxidation of cyclohexene to cyclohexene oxide was studied in a new type reactor—the ultrasound airlift loop reactor. The influences of ultrasound intensity, molar ratio of isobutyraldehyde to cyclohexene and oxy-gen gas flow rate on the conversion of cyclohexene and selectivity of cyclohexene oxide were investigated and dis-cussed, and the optimal operation condition was found, under which 95.2% conversion of cyclohexene and 90.7% selectivity of cyclohexene oxide were achieved. The ultrasonic airlift loop reactor utilizes the synergistic effect of sonochemsitry and higher oxygen transfer rate. Possible reaction mechanisms were outlined and the reason of ul-trasound promotion of epoxidation reactionwas analyzed.

Analysis and Measurement of Mass Transfer in Airlift Loop Reactors

Inter-phase mass transfer is important to the design and performance of airlift loop reactors for either chemical or biochemical applications, and a good measurement technique is crucial for studying mass transfer in multiphase systems. According to the model of macro-scale mass transfer in airlift loop reactors, it was proved that the airlift loop reactor can be regarded as a continuous stirred tank reactor for measuring mass transfer coefficient. The calculated mass transfer coefficient on such a basis is different from the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the macro-scale model and the difference is discussed. To describe the time delay of the probe response to the change of oxygen concentration in the liquid phase, a model taking into account the time constant of response is es-tablished. Sensitivity analysis shows that this model can be used to measure the volumetric mass transfer coefficient. Applying this model to the measurement of volumetric mass transfer coefficient in the loop reactor, results that co-incide with the turbulence theory in the literate were obtained.

Liquid Circulation in a Multi-tube Air-lift Loop Reactor

A multi-tube air-lift loop reactor (MT-ALR) is presented in this paper. Based on the energy conservation, a mathematical model describing the liquid circulation flow rate was developed, which was determined by gas velocity, the cross areas of riser and downcomer, gas hold-up and the local frictional loss coefficient. The experimental data indicate that either increase of gas flow rate or reduction of the downcomer diameter contributes to higher liquid circulation rate. The correlation between total and the local frictional loss coefficients was also established.Effects of gas flowrate in two risers and diameter of downcomer on the liquid circulation rate were examined. The value of total frictional loss coefficient was measured as a function of the cross area of downcomer and independent of the gas flow rate. The calculated results of liquid circulation rates agreed well with the experimental data with an average relative error of 9.6%.

HYDRODYNAMIC STUDIES ON LOOP REACTORS (Ⅰ) LIQUID JET LOOP REACTORS

Understanding of hydrodynamics in liquid jet loop reactors is a prerequisite step for the fur-ther study of multi-phase flow in loop reactors.A hydrodynamic simulation for liquid jet loop reac-tors is developed from the first principles of transport phenomena in this paper.The turbulence istaken into account by using the standard k-ε model.This approach is used to study the influence ofconfiguration and viscosity on the hydrodynamics.The results are in very reasonable coincidence to ex-perimental data in literature.

The Preparation of 2-Chloro-5-chloromethylpyridine in an Airlift Loop Reactor

A new process for the direct chlorination of 2-chloro-5-methylpyridine to yield 2-chloro-5-chloro-methylpyridine in an airlift loop reactor (ALR) has been studied.Five main reaction conditions including TR,na/ns,cp,Qg and dD/dR were optimized.The average molar yield and purity of 2-chloro-5-chloromethylpyridine obtained were 79% and 98.5% respectively under the optimum operating conditions.Finally,the efficiency for the preparation of 2-chloro-50chloromethylpyridine with ALR and stirred tank reactor(STR) respectively was compared.

FLOW AND DIFFUSION IN SELF-ASPIRATED REVERSE FLOW JET LOOP REACTOR

1 INTRODUCTIONGas and liquid distributions in a self-aspirated reverse flow jet loop reactor dependchiefly on the aspiration and the breakup against gas phase by the liquid nozzle aswell as the redistribution in the draft tube.It has also been noted that effective diffu-sion or backmixing in the reactor has great influence on the flow and mass transferrates.In this case,accurate descriptions about the fluid flow and diffusion conditions inthe reactor are most necessary for effective amplification of them.

FRACTAL STUDIES IN A SELF-ASPIRATED REVERSED FLOW JET LOOP REACTOR

1 INTRODUCTIONSelf-aspirated reversed flow jet loop reactors,characterized by a well defined flow pat-tern,well better dispersing effects,relatively low power consumption and a high masstransfer coefficient,are widely used in chemical engineering,especially in biochemicalengineering.The characteristics of such reactors are highly random or stochastic due tothe influence of a variety of phenomena such as jetting and bubbling of the

STUDY OF DOWNFLOW LIQUID JET LOOP REACTOR

1 INTRODUCTIONLiquid jet loop reactor(JLR)may be upflow(U-JLR)or downflow reactors(D-JLR)in design.The major differences between the two are the location of the nozzle andthe direction of the fluid flow.A large number of investigations on U-JLR havebeen published,but D-JLR with nozzles positioned on the top portion of the reac-tor was not much studied until recently.Up to now,only a few experimentalstudies on the hydrodynamics and mass transfer of D-JLR have been carried out[1-4].

Oilfield produced water treatment in internal-loop airlift reactor using electrocoagulation/flotation technique

Oilfield produced water is large quantities of salty water trapped in underground formations and subsisted under high temperatures and pressures that are brought to the surface along with oil during production. Produced water(PW) contains a lot of pollutants such as hydrocarbons and metals, this water must be treated before disposal. Therefore, different techniques are being used to treat produced water. Electrocoagulation is an efficient treatment technique involving the dissolution of anodes and formation of electro-coagulants, while the simultaneous generation of H_2 bubbles at the cathode leads to the pollutant removal by flotation. Electrocoagulation(EC)method is one of the most promising and widely used processes to treat oilfield produced water. In the present work, a conventional internal-loop(draught tube) airlift reactor was utilized as electrocoagulation/flotation cell for PW treatment by inserting two aluminum electrodes in the riser section of the airlift reactor. The EC airlift reactor was operated in a batch mode for the liquid phase. Different experimental parameters were studied on the oil and turbidity removal efficiencies such as current density, initial pH, electrocoagulation time, and air injection.The experimental results showed that mixing of the oil droplets in the PW was accomplished using only the liquid recirculation resulted by H_2 microbubbles generated by EC process which enhanced the oil removal. The experimental results further showed that the EC time required achieving ≥ 90% oil removal efficiency decreases from 46 to 15 min when operating current density increases from 6.8 to 45.5 mA·cm^(-2). This reactor type was found to be highly efficient and less energy consuming compared to conventional existing electrochemical cells which used mechanical agitation.

Hydrodynamics and bubble behaviour in a three-phase two-stage internal loop airlift reactor

Local hydrodynamics of a gas–liquid–solid system,such as bubble circulation regime,gas holdup,liquid velocity and axial profile of solid concentration,are studied in a two-stage internal loop airlift reactor.Empirical correlations for gas holdup and liquid velocity are proposed to ease the reactor design and scale-up.Different bubble circulation regimes were displayed in the first(lower) and second(upper) stages.Increasing superficial gas velocity and solid loading can promote regime transition of the second stage,and the gas holdup of the second stage is higher than that of the lower stage.In addition,the effects of solid loading on bubble behaviour are experimentally investigated for each stage.It is found that bubble size in the downcomer decreases with the presence of solid particles,and bubble size distribution widens under higher superficial gas velocity and lower solid loading.

Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

A new developed external loop airlift slurry reactor, which was integrated with gas–liquid–solid three-phase mixing, mass transfer, and liquid–solid separation simultaneously, was deemed to be a promising slurry reactor due to its prominent advantages such as achieving continuous separation of clear liquid from slurry and cyclic utilization of solid particles without any extra energy, energy-saving, and intrinsic safety design. The principal operating parameters, including gas separator volume, handling capacity, and superficial gas velocity, are systematically investigated here to promote the capabilities of mixing, mass transfer, and yield in the pilot external loop airlift slurry reactor. The influences of top clearance and throughput of the clear liquid on flow regime and gas holdup in the riser, liquid circulating velocity, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient with a typical high solid holdup and free of particles are examined experimentally. It was found that increasing the gas separator volume could promote the liquid circulating velocity by about 14.0% at most. Increasing the handling capacity of the clear liquid from 0.9 m3·h-1 to 3.0 m3·h-1 not only could increase the output without any adverse consequences, but also could enhance the liquid circulating velocity as much as 97.3%. Typical operating conditions investigated here can provide some necessary data and guidelines for this new external loop airlift slurry reactor to upgrade its performances.