Study of the Hydrodynamic Performance of a Compact and Intensified G/L Contactor: The RPB

Abstract

Modern process equipment needed for safe and economically viable chemical and biological processes requires flexibility, compactness, and a great potential for enhancing mass transfer. Centrifugal process intensification equipment such as the rotating packed bed (RPB) satisfies the above mentioned requirements in addition to zero sensitivity to changes caused by gravity. The fundamental principles of RPBs are yet to be fully established due to difficulty in predicting their behavior which has necessitated the need for treating their design, modeling, and optimization on a case-to-case basis. This study focused on the hydrodynamics (pressure drops) of a pilot-scale RPB equipped with a stainless steel wire mesh packing. The effects of three operational parameters: average high gravity factor, integrated gas capacity factor, and liquid load, as well as a design parameter, the fluid distributor type were investigated. The maximum value of the average gravity factor used was 452. Also, a combined gas capacity factor of 2.6Pa0.5, and a liquid load of up to 20m3m-2h-1 were explored. Additionally, the influence of liquid distributor type on the pressure drop of RPBs was investigated.