Time-resolved characteristics of a nanosecond pulsed multi-hollow needle plate packed bed dielectric barrier discharge

In this paper,self-designed multi-hollow needle electrodes are used as a high-voltage electrode in a packed bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor to facilitate fast gas flow through the active discharge area and achieve large-volume stable discharge.The dynamic characteristics of the plasma,the generated active species,and the energy transfer mechanisms in both positive discharge(PD)and negative discharge(ND)are investigated by using fast-exposure intensified charge coupled device(ICCD)images and time-resolved optical emission spectra.The experimental results show that the discharge intensity,number of discharge channels,and discharge volume are obviously enhanced when the multi-needle electrode is replaced by a multihollow needle electrode.During a single voltage pulse period,PD mainly develops in a streamer mode,which results in a stronger discharge current,luminous intensity,and E/N compared with the diffuse mode observed in ND.In PD,as the gap between dielectric beads changes from 0 to250μm,the discharge between the dielectric bead gap changes from a partial discharge to a standing filamentary micro-discharge,which allows the plasma to leave the local area and is conducive to the propagation of surface streamers.In ND,the discharge only appears as a diffusionlike mode between the gap of dielectric beads,regardless of whether there is a discharge gap.Moreover,the generation of excited states N_(2)^(+)(B^(2)∑_(u)^(+))and N2(C^(3)Π_(u))is mainly observed in PD,which is attributed to the higher E/N in PD than that in ND.However,the generation of the OH(A^(2)∑^(+))radical in ND is higher than in PD.It is not directly dominated by E/N,but mainly by the resonant energy transfer process between metastable N_(2)(A^(3)∑_(u)^(+))and OH(X^(2)Π).Furthermore,both PD and ND demonstrate obvious energy relaxation processes of electron-to-vibration and vibration-to-vibration,and no vibration-to-rotation energy relaxation process is observed.

Characteristics of Fin Baffle Packing Used in Rotating Packed Bed

For an alcohol/water system and with fin baffle packing,continuous distillation experiments were carried out in a rotating packed bed(RPB)system at atmospheric pressure.The effects of the average high gravity factor(β),liquid reflux ratio(R)and feedstock flux(F)on the momentum transfer and mass transfer were investigated. The gas phase pressure drop of RPB increased with the average high gravity factor,liquid reflux ratio and feedstock flux,which was 13.55-64.37 Pa atβof 2.01-51.49,R of 1.0-2.5,and F of 8-24 L·h1for a theoretical tray in the RPB with fin baffle packing.The investigation on the mass transfer in the RPB with different packings showed that the number of transfer units of RPB with a packing also increased with the average high gravity factor,reflux ratio and feedstock flux.It is found that the fin baffle packing(packing III)presents the best mass transfer performance and lowest pressure drop for the height equivalent to a theoretical plate(HETP),which is 6.59-9.84 mm.

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.

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.

A two-stage blade-packing rotating packed bed for intensification of continuous distillation

A two-stage blade-packing rotating packed bed(TSBP-RPB) was designed and developed for the intensification of continuous distillation. The mass transfer parameters of the TSBP-RPB were investigated using a chemisorption system. Continuous distillation experiments were conducted in the TSBP-RPB by the methanol–water binary system. Experimental results showed that values of the effective interfacial area and liquid-side mass transfer coefficient of the TSBP-RPB were 93–337 m^2·m^(-3) and 0.05–0.19 cm·s^(-1), respectively. The height of equivalent theoretical plate(HETP) of the TSBP-RPB ranged from 1.9 to 10 cm. Moreover, the TSBP-RPB is easy to be manufactured, which shows great potential for the application of continuous distillation.

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).

Mass transfer characteristics in a rotating packed bed with split packing

The rotating packed bed （RPB） with split packing is a novel gas-liquid contactor, which intensifies the mass transfer processes controlled by gas-side resistance. To assess its efficacy, the mass transfer characteristics with adjacent rings in counter-rotation and co-rotation modes in a split packing RPB were studied experimentally. The physical absorption system NH3-H2O was used for characterizing the gas volumetric mass transfer coeffi- cient （kyae） and the effective inteffacial area （ae） was determined by chemical absorption in the CO2-NaOH sys- tem. The variation in kyae and ae with the operating conditions is also investigated. The experimental results indicated that kyae and ae for counter-rotation of the adjacent packing rings in the split packing RPB were higher than those for co-rotation, and both counter-rotation and co-rotation of the split packing RPB were superior over conventional RPBs under the similar ooerating conditions.

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.

3D characterization and analysis of pore structure of packed ore particle beds based on computed tomography images

Methods and procedures of three-dimensional （3D） characterization of the pore structure features in the packed ore particle bed are focused. X-ray computed tomography was applied to deriving the cross-sectional images of specimens with single particle size of 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10 ram. Based on the in-house developed 3D image analysis programs using Matlab, the volume porosity, pore size distribution and degree of connectivity were calculated and analyzed in detail. The results indicate that the volume porosity, the mean diameter of pores and the effective pore size （d50） increase with the increasing of particle size. Lognormal distribution or Gauss distribution is mostly suitable to model the pore size distribution. The degree of connectivity investigated on the basis of cluster-labeling algorithm also increases with increasing the particle size approximately.

A method for establishing a bearing residual life prediction model for process enhancement equipment based on rotor imbalance response analysis

A rotating packed bed is a typical chemical process enhancement equipment that can strengthen micromixing and mass transfer.During the operation of the rotating packed bed,the nonreactants and products irregularly adhere to the wire mesh packing in the rotor,thus resulting in an imbalance in the vibration of the rotor,which may cause serious damage to the bearing and material leakage.This study proposes a model prediction for estimating the bearing residual life of a rotating packed bed based on rotor imbalance response analysis.This method is used to determine the influence of the mass on the imbalance in the vibration of the rotor on bearing damage.The major influence on rotor vibration was found to be exerted by the imbalanced mass and its distribution radius,as revealed by the results of orthogonal experiments.Through implementing finite element analysis,the imbalance response curve for the rotating packed bed rotor was obtained,and a correlation among rotor imbalance mass,distribution radius of imbalance mass,and bearing residue life was established via data fitting.The predicted value of the bearing life can be used as the reference basis for an early safety warning of a rotating packed bed to effectively avoid accidents.

Experimental and numerical investigation to elucidate the fluid flow through packed beds with structured particle packings

The present paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the dispersion of the gaseous jet flow and co-flow for the simple unit cell(SUC)and body-centred cubic(BCC)configuration of particles in packed beds.The experimental setup is built in such a way that suitable and simplified boundary conditions are imposed for the corresponding numerical framework,so the simulations can be done under very similar conditions as the experiments.Accordingly,a porous plate is used for the co-flow to achieve the uniform velocity and the fully developed flow is ensured for the jet flow.The SUC and BCC particle beds consist of 3D-printed spheres,and the non-isotropy near the walls is mostly eliminated by placing half-spheres at the channel walls.The flow velocities are analysed directly at the exit of the particle bed for both beds over 36 pores for the SUC configuration and 60 pores for the BCC configuration,for particle Reynolds numbers of 200,300,and 400.Stereo particle image velocimetry is experimentally arranged in such a way that the velocities over the entire region at the exit of the packed bed are obtained instantaneously.The numerical method consists of a state-of-the-art immersed boundary method with adaptive mesh refinement.The paper presents the pore jet structure and velocity field exiting from each pore for the SUC and BCC packed particle beds.The numerical and experimental studies show a good agreement for the SUC configuration for all flow velocities.For the BCC configuration,some differences can be observed in the pore jet flow structure between the simulations and the experiments,but the general flow velocity distribution shows a good overall agreement.The axial velocity is generally higher for the pores located near the centre of the packed bed than for the pores near the wall.In addition,the axial velocities are observed to increase near the peripheral pores of the packed bed.This behaviour is predominant for the BCC configuration as compared to the SUC configuration.The velocities near the peripheral pores can become even higher than those at the central pores for the BCC configuration.It is shown that both the experiments as well as the simulations can be used to study the complex fluid structures inside a packed bed reactor.

Continuous Distillation Experiment with Rotating Packed Bed

The performance of a rotating packed bed （RPter solutioB） with three kinds of packings was investigated using alcohol/wan under continuous distillation conditions at atmospheric pressure. The effects of average high gravity factor （β）, reflux ratio （R）, and feedstock flux （F） on mass-transfer in distillation were examined separately. Experimental results indicated that the total number of theoretical units （NTU） of RPB increased with β, R, and F.Of the three kinds of packings, the wave thread packing of stainless steel （Packing-Ⅲ）-had the best mass transfer efficiency with the height equivalent of a theoretical plate （HETP） of approximately 7.35 mm- 23.58 ram, whereas the corrugated disk pacing of stainless steel,（Packing Ⅰ） had the worst one with the HETP of about 13.4 mm-48.07 mm.Correlations were cleveloped to describe the mass transfer efficiency for packings Comparing.experimental data with the data calculated by correlation, the average deviate obtained for each packing was 0.72%, 1.98%, and 2.7%, respectively, implying that the accuracy of correlations developed was reasonable.

Absorption of NO_x into Nitric Acid Solution in Rotating Packed Bed

Absorption of NOx into nitric acid solutions was studied in the presence of ozone by using a rotating packed bed(RPB) contactor.The influences of operating parameters,such as high gravity number,amount of ozone,gas velocity,liquid spray density and inlet concentration of NOx,on the removal efficiency of NOx were investigated,among which the high gravity number and ozone amount are more important.Ozone was introduced to oxidize HNO2 to HNO3 to prevent the decomposition of HNO2 in the liquid phase.The high gravity number presents the effective external force for enhancing the mass transfer of ozone from gas phase to liquid phase.Under the experimental condition,the removal efficiency of NOx is higher than 90%and the concentration of nitric acid product exceeds 45%.

Absorption of Sulphur Dioxide with Sodium Citrate Buffer Solution in a Rotating Packed Bed

Absorption of SO2 from a SO2/air mixture with sodium citrate buffer solution was investigated using a rotating packed bed(RPB) in laboratory scale.The effects of operating parameters,such as the rotation speed of RPB,liquid-gas ratio,inlet gas flow rate,inlet concentration of SO2 in flue gas,sodium citrate buffer concentration and initial pH of absorption solution,on the SO2 concentration in the absorption solution or removal efficiency of SO2 were examined.Incremental rate of sulfate radical ions in the absorption solution was also examined.Experimental results indicate that the efficiency of this regenerative process will be improved by using RPB under appropriate operating conditions,and the generation of SO2-4 will be restrained in the process in RPB.

A Mass Transfer Model for Devolatilization of Highly Viscous Media in Rotating Packed Bed

A mass transfer model for devolatilization process of highly viscous media in rotating packed bed(RPB) was developed based on penetration theory and mass conservation.Before establishing the model,some mass transfer experiments of thin film were conducted in a designed diffusion cell including vacuum and feeding system. In this study,acetone was used as the volatile organic compound(VOC) and syrup as the highly viscous media.The thickness of thin film was changed by using different liquid distributor.It was found that bubbling played an important role in the devolatilization.The correlation of diffusion coefficient of acetone in highly viscous dilute solution was proposed.The relative error between predicted and experimental data was within the range of ± 30% for diffusion coefficient of acetone in syrup.A comparison of experimental data of RPB with model indicated that the relative error was within ± 30% for efficiency of acetone removal.

Process Intensification of VOC Removal from High Viscous Media by Rotating Packed Bed

The removal of a volatile organic compound (VOC) from high viscous liquid was carried out in a rotat-ing packed bed (RPB) in this study. The mixed liquid of syrup and acetone was used as simulated high viscous polymer solution with acetone as the volatile compound. The influence of the rotating speed of RPB, liquid viscos-ity, liquid flow rate, vacuum degree, and initial acetone content in the liquid on acetone removal efficiency was in-vestigated. The experimental results indicated that the removal efficiency increased with increasing rotating speed and initial acetone content in the viscous liquid and decreased with increasing liquid viscosity and flow rate. It was also observed that acetone removal efficiency increased with an increasing vacuum degree and reached 58% at a vacuum degree of 0.1 MPa. By the comparison with a flash tank devolatilizer, it was found that acetone removal ef-ficiency in RPB increased by about 67%.

Preparation of p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde by Hydrolysis of Diazonium Salts Using Rotating Packed Bed

A new type of reactor,featured with impinging stream-rotating packed bed（IS-RPB）and coil pipes,was designed and used to prepare p-hydroxybenzaldehyde（PHB）by hydrolysis from diazonium salts.The influence of operating parameters,such as reaction temperature,reaction time and high gravity factor,on the yield of PHB was investigated.Compared with the traditional kettle-type reactor,the yield of PHB with the new reactor is increased significantly and the reaction time is much shorter.Under the optimum conditions,the yield of PHB is increased from 51%to 84.1%.The reactor offers an opportunity for replacing the traditional batch mode operation with a continuous process.

Hydrodynamic Behavior in a Rotating Zigzag Bed

As a high gravity(HIGEE)unit,the rotating packed bed(RPB)uses centrifugal force to intensify mass transfer.Zigzag rotating bed(RZB)is a new type of HIGEE unit.The rotor of RZB consists of stationary discs and rotating discs,forming zigzag channels for liquid-gas flow and mass transfer.As in RPBs,some hydrodynamic behavior in RZB is interesting but no satisfactory explanation.In this study,the experiments were carried on in a RZB unit with a rotor of 600 mm in diameter using air-water system.The gas pressure drop and power consumption were measured with two types of rotating baffle for RZB rotors,one with perforations and another with shutter openings. The circumferential velocities of gas were measured with a five-hole Pitot probe.The pressure drop decreased rapidly when the liquid was introduced to the rotor,because the circumferential velocity of the liquid droplets was lower than that of the gas,reducing the circumferential velocity of gas and the centrifugal pressure drop.The power consumption decreased first when the gas entered the RZB rotor,because the gas with higher circumferential velocity facilitates the rotation of baffles.

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.