A convenient method for measuring gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient in micro reactors

Abstract

The research on gas-liquid multiphase reactions using micro reactors is becoming increasingly widespread, given their excellent mass transfer performance. Establishing an accurate and reliable method to measure the gas-liquid mass transfer performance of micro reactors is crucial for evaluating and optimizing the design of micro reactor structure. In this paper, the physical absorption method of aqueous solution-CO2 and the chemical absorption method of sodium carbonate solution-CO2 were proposed. By analyzing the chemical reaction equilibrium during the absorption process, the relationship between the mass transfer of CO2 and the solubility of hydroxide ions in the solution was established, and the total gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient was immediately obtained by measuring the pH value. The corresponding testing platform and process have been established based on the characteristics of the proposed method to ensure fast and accurate measurement. In addition, the chemical absorption method takes into account temperature factors that were not previously considered. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient measured by these two methods is in the same range as those measured by other methods using the same microchannel structure in previous literature. The methods have the advantages of low equipment cost, faster measurement speed, and simpler procedures, which can facilitate its wide application to the evaluation of the mass transfer performance and hence can guide the structure optimization of microchannel reactors.