Modelling of 3D liquid dispersion in a rotating packed bed using an Eulerian porous medium approach

Abstract

Liquid dispersion is very important for the modelling of liquid flow in a rotating packed bed (RPB) when an Eulerian porous medium approach is employed. For investigating the effect of the liquid dispersion in a practical RPB, a 3D Eulerian porous medium model has been established coupled with the appropriate interfacial, drag and dispersion forces formulations. The sensitivity of the parameters employed in these formulations has been thoroughly analyzed. New forms of the porous resistance model and the effective interfacial area correlation have been developed for the non-uniform two-phase flows. The simulation results show that the effect of the capillary pressure and mechanical dispersion forces on the liquid flow distribution and holdup in the RPB is clear and important. In addition, the effects of the dispersion force on the liquid holdup under different design and operational parameters have been thoroughly analyzed and it is found that the effect of the dispersion forces on the liquid holdup is almost the same for different nozzle widths and the porosities of the packing investigated. The investigation demonstrates that utilizing the Eulerian method can substantially reduce the simulation time and efforts when compared to the pore resolved method, such as the Volume of Fluid method without loss in accuracy. This provides a feasible approach to simulate RPBs in full 3D and for RPB technology scaling up and optimizations.