CFD simulations of two stirred tank reactors with stationary catalytic basket

Abstract

Among the different systems used for laboratory kinetic investigation, stationary catalytic basket stirred tank reactors (SCBSTRs) allow one to study triphasic reactions involving shaped catalyst with large size. The hydrodynamics of these complex reactors is not well known and has been studied experimentally in only a few cases. Despite the difference in the design of two commercial SCBSTRs reported in these works, the local measurements of the liquid–solid mass transfer coefficient inside the catalytic basket revealed the same velocity profile. The aim of the present work is therefore to investigate more accurately the hydrodynamics of the two reactors by means of CFD in order to compare the effect of the blade/baffle hydrodynamic interaction on the flow pattern. Owing to the geometrical complexity of the reactors, the hydrodynamic investigation is based on the k – ε model and the Brinkman–Forsheimer equations. The agreement at the local level with the experimental data (PIV and mass transfer measurements) validates this preliminary work performed with the standard values of the parameters present in the turbulent model and the Brinkman–Forsheimer equations. The simulations reveal in both reactors a ring-shaped vortex around the impeller in the agitation region. The high axial location of its centre induces a reverse flow at the tips of the basket. Owing to the fluid friction in the porous medium, the azimuthal flow in the core region is transformed into a radial flow in the basket where the flow decreases abruptly. Vertical vortices are located at the blade tips and at the downstream face of the baffles or they are located in the basket on both sides of the baffles, depending on the design and the location of the baffles. At the inner radius interface of the basket, the vertical blade impeller induces a rather homogeneous velocity profile, but the pitched blade impeller imposes a high velocity at the plane of symmetry. Therefore the simulations demonstrate that two different local velocity patterns and two different porous media may induce the same mass transfer properties.