Model of reactive precipitation process of preparation nano-ZnO in rotating packed bed: Contribution ratio

Abstract

• Preparation of nano-ZnO in RPB had been conducted by empirical model. • Rotating speed and liquid flow rate had much effect on D i and t. • Reactant concentration had much effect on G and B. • The predicated dp decreased with the increase of N, L and C 0 . With excellent micromixing characteristic of rotating packed bed (RPB), many nanoparticles with small average size, narrower distribution and good morphology had been successfully and continuously prepared. To reveal complex crystal process, an empirical model were developed to simulate nano-ZnO by considering mass changed, population balance equation, growth rate G, nucleation rate B, drop sizes D i , and resident time t. The predicted particle sizes were shown good agreement with experimental data with error of ±10%. Therefore, it was further adopted to predict the effects of rotating speed, liquid flow rate and reactant concentration on the mean particle size. To look more deeply insight in this process, their contribution ratios were further analyzed. The proposed empirical models were of great helpful to obtain suitable operation conditions for preparing much better properties of nanoparticles with fewer experiments. It was also beneficial to produce other nanoparticles in RPB.