Abstract
Production of functional nanoparticles and nanoscaled powders is a key process in several recent industrial applications. In this work, the flame process in nanoparticle production in sprays is analyzed. Specific focus is on the flow behavior, the temperature distribution, and the residence-time of particles in the hot (reactive) regions in a flame spray reactor that are analyzed by numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics techniques. The role of the co-flowing gas rate provided to the flame spray reactor and its effects on the spray behavior, flame morphology, and particle properties in an enclosed atmosphere is highlighted. The influence of different operational conditions on the reactor temperature and temperature-residence-time distribution of gas and particles is investigated. It is found that providing a reduced co-flowing gas rate to the flame spray reactor favors the recirculation of hot gas, and, consequently increases the residence-time of particles in the high-temperature regions. The numerical results of particle diameter and gas-phase temperature are compared to some existing experimental data.
Highlights
The production and formulation of particles and powders can be found in several industrial applications
In the flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) process, a metal-based precursor is dissolved in an organic solvent which is atomized into a spray of fine droplets
The impact of operating conditions and geometric parameters on the flow behavior in enclosed atmospheres produced by an FSP reactor has been highlighted
Summary
The production and formulation of particles and powders can be found in several industrial applications. The combustion reactions of the organic solvent release enough energy to crack and oxidize the precursor molecules, resulting in a supersaturated ambiance of metallic oxide vapor, which, in turn, induces nucleation followed by growth, agglomeration, and sintering of nanoparticles (Teoh et al 2010) Some advantages of this process are the possibility of dissolving the metal-based precursor directly in the fuel/solvent and, releasing it in the reaction zone, the flexibility for rapid quenching to control the particle growth (Mädler et al 2002) and the versatility to produce metal oxide powders with high levels of purity and reasonably narrow size range (Pratsinis 2010) without any additional purification
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