High-gravity deoxygenation of jet fuels using rotating packed bed

Abstract

It has been proven that dissolved oxygen has fatal effect on thermal oxidation stability of jet fuels, although it is present in extremely low levels (70 ppm). In this paper, high-gravity deoxygenation method of jet fuels via rotating packed bed (RPB) was proposed to intensify gas–liquid mass transfer process. The deoxygenation efficiency of jet fuels was up to 99% (less than 1 ppm), and the liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLae) is 0.01 ∼ 0.06 s−1. The effects of operation parameters on deoxygenation efficiency and liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLae) were studied systematically, including gas–liquid ratio, rotating speed, liquid flow rate and packing structure. This method showed remarkable advantages in many aspects, such as superior mass transfer performance, extremely high deoxygenation efficiency, small device volume, very high process speed, low gas consumption and high operation stability. In addition, the mass-transfer model of high-gravity deoxygenation of jet fuel was established basing on the surface renewal theory, which considered the influences of gas flow and other operation parameters. The model is in good agreement with the experimental results, and the deviation is within ± 15%. This research is of great significance for the development of innovative deoxygenation technology of jet fuels.