Numerical modeling of reactive bubbly flows based on Euler-Lagrange approach

Abstract

In this paper, the Euler-Lagrange approach was employed to simulate the gas–liquid reaction system in a rectangular bubble column by combining hydrodynamics, interfacial mass transfer and reaction kinetics. According to the satisfactory agreement with the experiment results, the detailed characteristics of the hydrodynamics were accurately reflected. For the chemisorption process of CO2 in aqueous NaOH, the results were more similar to the experimental values than those reported in the literature. Moreover, further improvements were successfully implemented: A visible inflection point, owing to which the shape of the curve was highly consistent with the experimental data, could be easily observed when taking into account the auto-dissociation of water. A relatively exact slope for the distribution curve of the mean Sauter diameter could be attained in the flow region below z/H = 0.3. In addition, an in-depth assessment was performed by comparing a series of typical mass transfer and enhancement factor models.