Initial liquid dispersion and mass transfer performance in a rotating packed bed

Abstract

Initial liquid dispersion significantly affects the liquid distribution and mass transfer performance in a rotating packed bed (RPB). However, investigation of initial liquid dispersion in the RPB by using a hydrophobic wire mesh was scarce. In this work, hydrophobic surface-modified stainless steel wire mesh (SSM) and non- surface-modified stainless steel wire mesh (NSM) were prepared and then used as the initial liquid disperser in a RPB. Compared with NSM, the liquid dispersion cone angle of SSM was much bigger after liquid jet impacted on the above rotating single-layer wire mesh, recorded by a high-speed camera. The effective interfacial area (ae) of the RPB with Packing A (single-layer SSM + multilayer NSM) and Packing B (single-layer NSM + multilayer NSM) was experimentally measured by a NaOH−CO2 absorption system. Results show that the values of ae in the RPB with Packing A were 22% higher than with Packing B at optimum operating conditions, which showed that a better initial liquid dispersion was beneficial for better mass transfer performance in the RPB.