Range Of Gas Velocities Research Articles

Effect of Gas Holdup and Gas Velocity on Volumetric Mass Transfer Coefficient in Bubble Column

Bubble columns are widely used in various industrial processes such as wastewater treatment, fermentation, and gas-liquid reactions due to their simplicity and effectiveness in mass transfer operations. In this study, we investigate the influence of gas holdup and gas velocity on the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in a bubble column reactor. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient is a critical parameter that affects the efficiency of gas-liquid mass transfer processes. Through experimental analysis and computational modeling, we systematically examine the relationship between gas holdup, gas velocity, and the volumetric mass transfer coefficient. In this study, volumetric mass transfer coefficient kL.a was calculated using air in water. The data obtained are in the range of superficial gas velocity (0.03-0.2398) m/s for air water system. The experiments were carried out using 0.1 m column diameter with 2 mm hole diameter and 79 holes gas distributor. From the experimental data it was found that kL.a increased with increasing of gas holdup and increasing of superficial gas velocity.

A Unified Approach for the Prediction of Dry Pressure Drop in Knitted‐Wire Mesh Demisters

AbstractThe removal of unwanted droplets in thermal separation units is often accomplished using knitted wire meshes. Alongside the separation efficiency, the pressure drop plays a crucial role for the design of these demisters. Wire meshes have been subject to limited investigations, and correlations for predicting the pressure drop, both with or without loading (referred to as dry pressure drop), have not yet been validated. To address this gap, experimental analyses of porosity and dry pressure drop were conducted over a wide range of wire mesh parameters and intake gas velocities. An empirical correlation was developed from these experimental results and further data from the literature. This correlation enables prediction of the pressure drop with a mean deviation of ±20 %.

Numerical simulations of particle concentration and size effects in a slurry bubble column with a CFD‐PBM coupled model

AbstractThe combined effects of particle concentration (0–20 vol%) and particle size on the hydrodynamics of a slurry bubble column were studied by computational fluid dynamics coupled with population balance model (CFD‐PBM) in a wide range of superficial gas velocity (0.02–0.20 m/s). This CFD‐PBM coupled model included multiple effects of particles, namely increased slurry viscosity, reduced drag force, promoted bubble coalescence, and attenuated liquid turbulence, among which turbulence attenuation was crucial. To quantify liquid turbulence attenuation, a mechanistic model was established by equating the energy dissipated by particle motion to the attenuated liquid turbulence energy calculated from turbulent energy spectrum. The turbulent energy dissipation rate was reduced by over 60% at a solid concentration of 20%. Using this model, the effects of particle concentration and particle size on overall gas holdup were well predicted. This model advanced our understanding of how particles affect the gas holdup in a slurry bubble column.

Experimental and numerical study on multiphase fluid dynamics of coal and blends with biomass (sugarcane bagasse) in a lab-scale full-loop circulating fluidized bed gasifier

ABSTRACT The current research presents a 3-D hydrodynamic simulation of the fluidized bed riser with a validated CFD model at different superficial gas velocities and inventory composition (coal of 2 kg is blended with sugarcane bagasse weights 0.2 kg and 0.8 kg). The experiments are performed by varying superficial gas velocity (0.5 Umf to 3 Umf), coal particle size (460 μm and 460 μm), and coal bed inventory size (1.5 kg and 2 kg) in a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed riser of 100 mm diameter and 3000 mm height. The CFD model results are in good agreement with experimental pressure drop and solid volume fraction. The effect of drag and lift force in fluidization hydrodynamics has been studied. The validated CFD model is then extended to predict the hydrodynamics of the three-fluid, coal-sugarcane bagasse-air system. A mixing factor is defined to quantify the mixing behavior of coal and sugarcane bagasse. It is concluded that a 200 gm sugarcane bagasse blend has good mixing than the 800 gm blends. For efficient mixing, coal and sugarcane bagasse fluidized beds should operate in the 2 Umf to 4 Umf superficial gas velocity range. The results of axial and radial distribution of coal, sugarcane bagasse and air volume fraction, pressure drop, slip velocity, and fluidized bed heights are presented.

Numerical and experimental study on the performance of novel type of separation element based on Coanda effect

This study proposes a new separator based on the Coanda effect to address the issue of low separation efficiency in traditional separators at low gas velocity. The study investigates the impact of inlet velocity on streamlines, pressure drop, and separation efficiency through numerical simulation. Additionally, an experimental platform was constructed to measure the application effect of the new separator using PDPA. Then the following conclusions were drawn: (1) The separation mechanism of WAS is a comprehensive process that utilizes the Coanda effect, supplemented by collision and centrifugation. (2) The inlet gas velocity has little impact on streamlines and droplet attachment, and the mass separation efficiency is 99.9 % when the velocity is between 1–12 m/s. (3) Within the gas velocity range mentioned above, PDPA was used to monitor droplet size information at the outlet. The results showed that droplet sizes were mainly between 0 and 20 μm, with droplets larger than 20 μm being almost completely separated. The droplet size distribution curves at the outlet were consistent, with peak values of 6.5 μm. This results are consistent with the numerical simulation results, verifying the accuracy of the simulation and indicating that WAS has high separation efficiency and a wide range of gas velocities. (4)The main flow loss occurs between the jet nozzle and the outlet of the separation element. At this stage, the total pressure drop accounts for 96 % of the entire process, and the static pressure drop accounting for 56 % of the entire process. Then the correlation formula between pressure drop and inlet velocity was obtained by fitting the experimental results.

Demonstration of a multi-channel fluidized bed particle–supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchanger for concentrating solar applications

High-temperature thermal energy storage in oxide particles at temperatures above 600°C can couple concentrated solar energy with high-efficiency thermal power cycles to provide dispatchable solar-driven electricity. Challenges remain in developing cost-effective primary heat exchangers, which require expensive alloys, to extract the high-temperature thermal energy from the particles to power cycle fluids, such as supercritical CO2 (sCO2) in recuperated Brayton cycles. To explore one pathway for cost-effective, high-temperature particle heat exchangers, the current study demonstrates a shell-and-plate, particle–sCO2 heat exchanger with narrow-channel fluidized beds coupled with micro-channel sCO2 flows in the heat exchanger walls. This study evaluates the feasibility of multiple parallel, narrow-channel fluidized beds in shell-and-plate particle–sCO2 HXs, to achieve high bed-wall heat fluxes at elevated temperatures. A reduced-order model simulates the narrow-channel, fluidized-bed particle–sCO2 heat exchanger to design the fluidized bed geometry, in terms of depth, height, and number of channels,for a nominal 40-kWth heat exchanger at particle and sCO2 inlet temperatures up to 600°C and 400°C respectively. The resulting shell-and-plate heat exchanger design operates with bubbling fluidization of the downward-flowing oxide particles to enhance bed-wall heat transfer. The heat exchanger core is fabricated with etched sCO2 micro-channels in thin wall plates that are diffusion bonded to spacer frames to form the shell-and-plate structure with 12 parallel, fluidized bed channels, 10.4 mm deep. The heat exchanger is tested at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility at Sandia National Laboratories with CARBOBEAD HSP particles at design particle flow rates of 0.20 kg s−1 and inlet temperatures up to 525°C. Results show that fluidization across multiple parallel channel beds can maintain uniform particle inventory with a common freeboard zone above the heat exchanger core. Bubbling fluidization improves particle–wall heat transfer coefficients but also increases axial dispersion of particle thermal energy, which lowers the log-mean temperature difference such that total heat transfer remains relatively constant to within ±10% over a broad range of fluidization gas velocities. The axial dispersion required particle and sCO2 flow rates to be increased by 25% over model-designed conditions to achieve the targeted 40 kWth, which indicates the importance of incorporating axial dispersion into heat exchanger design models and of deploying bed structures to suppress it. This study demonstrates the feasibility and preferred fluidizing gas conditions for particle heat exchangers for releasing high-temperature thermal energy storage systems.

Effect of vibrational modes on fluidization characteristics and solid distribution of cohesive micro- and nano-silica powders

In this study, the impact of different vibrational modes on the fluidization characteristics of cohesive micro- and nano-silica powder was examined. Fractional pressure drop, bed expansion measurements, and X-ray imaging were utilized to characterize the fluidization quality. The densities of the emulsion phase at the top and bottom of the column were quantified and compared, providing insights into the solid distribution within the fluidized bed. In the absence of vibration, neither powder could be fluidized within the considered range of superficial gas velocities. Vertical vibration was found to initiate fluidization for both powders. In contrast, elliptical vibration failed to overcome the channelling behavior when fluidizing the micro-powder. For nano-powder, combined channelling and powder compaction occurred when the bed was subjected to elliptical vibration. For the micro-powder, it was observed that bed homogeneity was independent of vertical vibration intensity but improved with increasing superficial gas velocity. For nano-powder, intensifying vertical vibration led to segregation, likely due to agglomerate densification. Furthermore, fractional pressure drop measurements proved to be a strong tool in assessing fluidization quality, providing insights that could not be attained by conventional indicators.

Quality of Mixedness Using Information Entropy in a Counter-Current Three-Phase Bubble Column

Knowledge of mixing phenomena is of great value in the mineral and other chemical and biochemical industries. This work aims to analyze the quality of mixedness (QM), the intrinsic mass transfer (MT) number, and the MT efficiency based on information entropy theory in the counter-current microstructured slurry bubble column. A thorough analysis is conducted to assess the effects of particle loading, gas and slurry velocity, and axial variation on the QM. The range of gas velocity, slurry velocity, particle size, and particle loading was 0.011–0.075 m/s, 0.018–0.058 m/s, 242.72–408.31 μm, and 15.54–88.94 kg/m3, respectively. QM is a time-dependent parameter, and the concept of contact time has been used for scale-up purposes. The maximum QM was achieved at dimensionless times of 0.40 × 10−3, 0.15 × 10−3, and 0.85 × 10−3 for the maximum superficial gas velocity, particle loading, and axial height, respectively. The gas velocity positively influenced both the intrinsic MT number and its efficiency. In contrast, the slurry velocity and particle loading had a negative effect. The present theoretical analysis will pave the path for industrial process intensification in counter-current flow systems.

Comparative analytical characteristics of multicapillary chromatography columns with different capillary diameters

Straight gas chromatography multicapillary columns (MCC) with 40 µm diameter capillaries (hereafter – 40 µm MCC) have been known for quite a long time and are well studied; they are used in portable gas analyzers. Some chromatographic characteristics of 25 µm MCCs, which appeared relatively recently, were also studied, while commercially available 60 and 80 µm MCCs are poorly studied. In this work the main analytical characteristics of 60 and 80 µm MCCs were determined and compared with the characteristics of 25 and 40 µm MCCs. It was shown that the maximum specific efficiency of the columns decreased with increasing column capillary diameter and is approximately 24.8, 18.2, 13.7 and 9.5 thousand theoretical plates (t.p.) per meter for 25, 40, 60 and 80 µm MCCs, respectively. It was established that the height equivalent to a theoretical plate of 60 and 80 μm MCCs was not varied significantly over a wide range of carrier gas velocities (nitrogen and helium), which allowed operating MCCs at high carrier gas flows essentially without loss of their efficiency. Moreover, for all MCCs the separation rate for peaks with a retention factor over 10 exceeded 600 t.p./s, and for peaks with a lower retention factor could be several thousand t.p./s, which is significantly higher than for conventional capillary and packed columns. It was established that it was possible to create very high carrier gas flows (up to 1000 cm3/min or more) for 60 µm MCCs and especially 80 µm MCCs at a relatively low pressure drop across the column. Therefore they can work as a part of chromatographic systems that require high carrier gas flow.

Carbon nanotube microbeads for enhanced gas heating in a fluidized bed solar air collector

A novel approach utilizing vertically-aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) as solar heat absorbers is proposed for efficient gas heating in a concentrated fluidized bed solar air collector (FBSAC). The VACNT powder was fabricated into CNT beads suitable for fluidized bed applications through macronization and densification. The CNT bead showed an increase in size and a 6.8 times increase in apparent density. The increase in sphericity and a significant decrease in the repose angle indicated improved particle fluidity. The prepared CNT beads demonstrated an absorptivity similar to VACNT, along with increased thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity, indicating superior thermophysical properties compared to conventional CNTs. Moreover, the reduced electrostatic charge generation minimizes the issue of particle attachment on the transmission window. The heat absorption characteristics of air in FBSAC (50 mm i.d. × 150 mm height) with CNT microbeads were determined. The FBSAC achieved a maximum gas temperature of approximately 150 °C. The CNT bead achieved a higher temperature difference of the gas per irradiance and a more comprehensive operating range of gas velocities up to 0.16 m/s than VACNT. The FBSAC with CNT beads exhibited a maximum thermal efficiency of 30.3 % and higher efficiency of 8–21 % than CNT powders at gas velocity of 0.11 m/s. A correlation was proposed to predict the thermal efficiencies of the FBSACs with different particles from dimensionless numbers considering particles dynamics and thermophysical properties.

Study of fluidized bed freeboard for effect of Geldart A particles shape using particle image velocimetry (PIV)

A study was carried out using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to reveal velocity vector flow fields in the freeboard region of a Geldart A fluidized bed. For the first time the effect of particle shape, was studied for three powder types, namely China clay (platelet-like), Diatomite (spherical) and Quartz (irregular). A bench-scale fluidized bed set-up of perspex glass was used for direct PIV imagining over a substantial inlet gas velocity range. Interestingly the freeboard was not found to be highly turbulent as has been reported in the case of Geldart B particles. Rather a transition regime was observed which was dominated by laminar streamlines and punctuated by short-lived eddies with life span even less than 400 μs. Bed expansion was significantly affected by particle shape. This was explained by an ‘effective cluster size’ hypothesis for the three powder types. The ‘uniformity’ of the velocity field was also quantified for each powder.

Optimizing the surface modification of cohesive polyethylene powders in a vibrated plasma-spouted bed: Exploring agglomerate size impact on coarser particle addition mechanism

Ultrafine polymer powders have garnered attention owing to their superior physical properties and reactivity. Nonetheless, the cohesive nature of these powders notably impedes efficient plasma surface modification, thereby limiting potential applications. The effects of optimizing the fluidization of cohesive powders on plasma treatment within a plasma-spouted bed were investigated in a prior study, wherein surface modification was significantly improved by incorporating coarser particles and vibration. However, the optimal conditions and mechanisms by which adding coarser particles to a vibrated plasma-spouted bed contributes to this enhancement remain unelucidated. This study entailed an investigation of the influence of gas flow rate, agglomerate properties, and plasma distribution in optimizing the wettability modification of ultrafine powders. Results indicate that increased gas flow rate, coarser particle size, and quantity lead to the formation of smaller, more uniform-sized agglomerates. Furthermore, the contact angle of the treated powder demonstrated a linear decrease with the reduction of average agglomerate size within a suitable gas velocity range, suggesting that enhanced exposure of the powder surface to plasma contributes to the optimization of plasma treatment. However, high-gas velocity may trigger particle entrainment and diminish surface modification, as evidenced by the limited plasma distribution primarily at the bottom of the reactor.

Particle motion analysis of a new three-phase fluidized bed flotation column with glass sphere particles

Analysis of the particle movement within the unit vessel is necessary for the design, optimization and scale-up of the new three-phase fluidized bed flotation column (TFC). This work aimed to examine the motion and distribution of assisted fluidized particle-glass spheres in the TFC and to provide a better assessment of particle collision and dispersion behavior by quantifying particle velocities. Tracer particles were analyzed by high-speed camera techniques to determine particle velocity fluctuations in a three-phase fluidized bed consisting of glass spheres, water, and bubbles. A correlation model for determining the particle velocity in a three-phase fluidized bed is proposed after a systematic analysis of the particle velocity. The model covers a wide range of superficial gas velocities (0–0.339 m/s), superficial liquid velocities (0.169–0.425 m/s) and initial static bed heights (0.162–0.262 m). Aiming to evaluate particle collisions in the TFC, this paper derives the particle collision frequencies using a modified collision model and investigates the effect of a wide range of operating parameters on particle collisions. Finally, a new method for estimating dispersion due to particle motion is developed based on the study of particle dispersion coefficients.

Numerical analysis of particle injection effect on gas-liquid two-phase flow in horizontal pipelines using coupled MPPIC-VOF method

Pipeline transport of three-phase (gas, liquid, and solid particles) flows has become increasingly prevalent in various industrial applications. Due to complicated fluid phase interactions, experimental and numerical investigation of this type of flow can be very demanding. In this study, the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian approach MPPIC-VOF is adopted, which is capable of capturing solid particle motion as well as fluid phase development simultaneously. Prior to three-phase flow simulation, two-phase air–water flow in a specific range of gas and liquid superficial velocities with slug and plug flow patterns is simulated. Then, polypropylene particles are injected as the solid phase into the air–water flow and the effects of particles on pressure drop, void fraction, and flow patterns are studied. The pressure drop and void fraction results are validated for both two-phase and three-phase flows by different correlations and experimental results. As a result of particle injection at the low concentration of 0.5%, void fraction increases by 13.7% and pressure drop changes on average by 18%, respectively. However, there was no significant change in the flow patterns.

Global characterization of hydrodynamics and gas-liquid mass transfer in a thin-gap bubble column in presence of Newtonian or non-Newtonian liquid phase

Bubble columns are commonly used as photobioreactors (PBRs) due to their good mixing and mass transfer capabilities. Modification in design and operating parameters are nevertheless needed to intensify volumetric productivity. Thin-gap bubble column can be used in this context to operate with high biomass concentration, up to conditions where the culture becomes non-Newtonian. In the present study, the global hydrodynamics and gas–liquid mass transfer inside a 4 mm thickness thin-gap bubble column are characterized in presence of low viscosity Newtonian fluid (water) and two aqueous solutions of Carboxymethyl Cellulose and Xanthan Gum. These shear-thinning solutions are used to mimic high concentration cultures of Chlorella Vulgaris at 42 g.L−1. A range of superficial gas velocities and different capillary diameters are explored to investigate the effect of sparging on hydrodynamics and gas–liquid mass transfer. Studied parameters are flow regimes, mixing, and gas–liquid mass transfer. Results are compared with literature results in classical bubble columns to put into evidence the original effects of both confinement and liquid rheology. Among others, these results show that compared to Newtonian media, non-Newtonian media result in higher gas holdup and mixing times and a lower gas–liquid mass transfer coefficient. The findings suggest that the presence of smaller bubbles would improve mass transfer due to the increased interfacial area, while the presence of larger bubbles would improve mixing performance due to increased vorticity in their wake and relatively greater species transport.

CFD-based deep neural networks (DNN) model for predicting the hydrodynamics of fluidized beds

Fluidized beds are central to numerous applications such as drying, combustion, gasification, pyrolysis, CO2 utilization, mixing, and separation. The design and development of fluidized beds are still evolving owing to the complex hydrodynamics. Various experimental investigations and CFD simulations have been carried out to understand its hydrodynamics. Whereas the experimental approaches are very costly and limited to small scale, CFD modeling on the other hand requires significant computational resources and time. Thus, in this contribution, we propose a hybrid CFD-based ML model for estimating the hydrodynamics of fluidized beds. The CFD simulations of Taghipour et al., 2005 were performed and validated with the experimental measurements for a wide range of inlet gas velocities encompassing multiple flow regimes. A time-averaged simulation data of the CFD model was used for developing a Deep Neural Network (DNN) model. The hydrodynamic parameters, such as solid velocity field, volume fraction, and bed pressure drop, are predicted using the CFD-based DNN model. The results demonstrate that DNN has superior spatial learning capabilities and that, when used with CFD, it can reduce the computational power required without sacrificing accuracy. To evaluate the versatility of the CFDbased DNN model with different operating conditions and hydrodynamic parameters, independent data from (Cloete et al., 2013) and (Li and Zhang, 2013) were used for satisfactory validation.

Computational fluid dynamics simulation of the heterogeneous regime in a large-scale bubble column

Bubble columns are used in many industrial applications, but the complex fluid dynamics phenomena has limited their design and optimization processes. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a promising tool to investigate the complex multi-scale flow physics characterising multiphase reactors. In this work, a CFD Eulerian-Eulerian modelling approach is developed to describe the hydrodynamics of a large-scale bubble column operated over a wide range of superficial gas velocities (0.0188 – 0.20 m/s). Available experimental results were used for the model validation. A drag law for oblate bubbles was considered and coupled with a drag modification function to include the effects of bubble–bubble interactions. The numerical approach was tested considering a mono-dispersed approximation and including coalescence and breakup by using a Population Balance Model (PBM). The role played by the lift force was investigated and, for the reactor configuration considered, it turned out to be essential in the description of the local flow properties.

Design and construction of an LSTM-powered high sampling rate dual-beam gamma densitometer for real-time measurement of the two-phase flow void fraction

In this work, an intelligent gamma densitometer gauge for non-intrusive real-time measurement of the two-phase flow void fraction has been designed and constructed. It has been implemented in a horizontal pipe over a wide range of gas and liquid superficial velocities. Moreover, a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network has been used for analyzing the data sequence from a dedicated high sampling rate dual-beam gamma densitometer. This approach considerably reduced the complexity of the data processing and regression operations while providing a high capability to identify and compensate for the errors caused by intermittent, and inhomogeneous flow regimes in a real-time mode. A comprehensive sensitivity analysis has been performed to adjust the network parameters for the most accurate void fraction prediction in all studied flow regimes including slug, plug, wavy, stratified, bubbly, and semi-annular. The experimental evaluations revealed that considering a sampling time of a few seconds, the optimized model approximated the actual data with an R-squared of 0.98, and almost all measurements were carried out with the maximum absolute error of 10%. The high accuracy and relatively fast response of the proposed method make it a reliable technique for developing a high-performance real-time multiphase flow meter.

CFD modeling of double-partition divided-wall column for mass transfer characteristics

In this study, a coupled two-fluid computational fluid dynamics (CFD)–component transfer (CT) model was constructed to investigate the mass transfer behavior and distribution of component concentration fields on trays within the two-staggered wall regions of a double-partition divided-wall column (DPDWC). By comparing the simulation results of the coupled CFD-CT model with the height-dependent calculation of the clear-liquid layer, this study validated the model, and then proceeded to analyse its effect on mass transfer in multiple zones of the tower under varying gas velocity conditions. The results showed that the mass-transfer efficiency increased initially, but then decreased with an increase in gas velocity within the studied gas velocity range. In addition, the evaporative condensation effect of the component mass transfer cause temperature variations across different regions of the tower.

Experimental investigation on the effect of superficial gas velocity on bubble dynamics properties of B particles in gas–solid fluidized bed reactor using digital image analysis technique

The bubble dynamics properties in gas–solid particle system play a crucial role in the design and optimization of gas–solid fluidized beds, and are significantly influenced by superficial gas velocity. In present study, the effect of superficial gas velocity on bubble dynamics properties in a classical B particle system were investigated at gas velocity ranging from (0.41 to 0.59) m·s−1 with umf = 0.067 m·s−1 in a quasi-two dimensional (quasi-2D) fluidized bed domain, including bubble equivalent diameter, bubble size distribution, bubble density, aspect ratio, bubble hold-up, bed expansion ratio, bubble rising and lateral velocity. Those were derived from the taken image by digital image analysis (DIA) technique. The results show that superficial gas velocity has a significant effect on the bubble equivalent diameter, while it has little effect on bubble size distribution (BSD), average bubble density distribution and bubble aspect ratio distribution for the same particle system. Both time-averaged bed expansion ratio and bubble hold-up increase with the increase of superficial gas velocity under the range of gas velocity in this work. Two uniform core-annular flows form in the bed for all cases. The bubble rising velocity coefficients of developed correlation range from 0.69 to 1.00. For bubble lateral movement, smaller bubbles may be more susceptible, and superficial gas velocity has a little influence on the absolute lateral velocity of bubbles. Overall understanding the effect of gas velocity on bubbles dynamics properties is good for the design and optimization of fluidized bed reactors, leading to the better process outcomes and performance.