CFD Simulation of Dry Pressure Drop in a Cross-Flow Rotating Packed Bed

Chao Zhang,Qiaoling Zhang,Zhiguo Yuan,Youzhi Liu,Weizhou Jiao,Guisheng Qi

doi:10.3390/app112110099

Abstract

The cross-flow rotating packed bed (RPB) has attracted wide attention in recent years because of its advantages of large gas capacity, low pressure drop and lack of flooding limitation. However, the complex structure of the packing makes it difficult to obtain the gas flow characteristics in the cross-flow RPB by experiments. In this study, the dry pressure drop in the cross-flow RPB was investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The packing was modeled by the porous media model and the rotation of the packing was simulated by the sliding mesh model. The simulation results obtained by three turbulence models were compared with experimental results, and the RNG k-ε model was found to best describe the turbulence behaviors in the cross-flow RPB. Then, the effects of gas flow rate and rotating speed on dry pressure drop in different parts of the cross-flow RPB were analyzed. The results of this study can provide important insights into the design and scale-up of cross-flow RPB.

Highlights

The effects of rotating speed and gas flow rate on dry pressure drop in the cavity zone A, packing zone, cavity zone B and outlet zone are discussed
The dry pressure drop is defined as the pressure drop as the gas passes through the cross-flow
The dry pressure drop is defined as the pressure drop as the gas passes through the cross-flow rotating packed bed (RPB)

Summary

Introduction

Guo et al [10] reported that the dry pressure drop increased with the increase of the square of the gas flow rate but remained unchanged with the acceleration of the rotating speed. Jiao et al [12] found that the pressure drop in a cross-flow RPB was about one tenth of that in a countercurrent one. Liu et al [13] demonstrated that as the rotating spend increased, the pressure drop decreased continuously in a sealed cross-flow RPB, while it firstly decreased and increased in an open one. Jiao et al [15] found that the pressure drop was lower in a cross-flow RPB with concentric annulus than in a countercurrent RPB with baffle.

Methods

Results

Conclusion