scholarly journals Similitude Analysis for Gas-Liquid-Fiber Flows in Cocurrent Bubble Columns

Author(s):  
Chengzhi Tang ◽  
Theodore J. Heindel

Gas-liquid-fiber systems are different from conventional gas-liquid-solid systems in that the solid material (i.e., fiber) is flexible, has a large aspect ratio, and forms flocs or networks when its mass fraction is above a critical value. With its wide application to the pulp and paper industry, it is important to investigate the hydrodynamics of gas-liquid-fiber systems. In this paper, 19 parameters that influence gas holdup in gas-liquid-fiber bubble columns are critically examined and then a dimensional analysis based on the Buckingham Pi Theorem is used to derive the dimensionless parameters governing gas-liquid-fiber bubble column hydrodynamics. Seven dimensionless parameters that are related to the fiber effects on gas holdup are further analyzed, and a single dimensionless parameter combining these dimensionless parameters is derived based on a force analysis and experimental results. This dimensionless parameter is shown to be sufficient to quantify the influence of fiber on gas holdup in gas-liquid-fiber cocurrent bubble columns. It also reduces the number of parameters needed in correlating experimental gas holdup data in gas-liquid-fiber bubble columns.

2010 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 2364-2371 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Sandberg

More than 50% of the electrical power needed to treat pulp and paper industry effluents is used for aeration in biological treatment stages. A large share of the oxygen that passes through the wastewater is not consumed and will be found in the off-gas. Energy can be saved by aerating under conditions where the oxygen transfer is most efficient, for example at low concentrations of dissolved oxygen Consider the sludge as an energy source; electricity can be saved by avoiding sludge reduction through prolonged aeration. High oxygen transfer efficiency can be retained by using the oxygen consumption of biosolids. Quantified savings in the form of needed volumes of air while still achieving sufficient COD reduction are presented. The tests have been made in a bubble column with pulp mill process water and sludge from a biological treatment plant. These were supplemented with case studies at three pulp and paper mills.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 887-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajay Sujan ◽  
Raj K. Vyas

Abstract Gas holdup is one of the most important parameters for characterizing the hydrodynamics of bubble columns. Modeling and design of bubble columns require empirical correlations for precise estimation of gas holdup. Empirical correlations available for prediction of gas holdup (εG) in various non-Newtonian systems for both gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid bubble columns have been presented in this review. Critical analysis of correlations presented by different researchers has been made considering the findings and pitfalls. As the magnitude of gas holdup depends on many factors, such as physicochemical properties of gas and/or liquid, column geometry, type and design of gas distributors, operating conditions, phase properties, and rheological properties, etc., all of these have been discussed and examined. In order to emphasize the significance, relative importance of parameters such as flow behavior index, consistency index, column diameter, gas flow rate, and density of aqueous carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) solution on gas holdup has been quantified using artificial neural network and Garson’s algorithm for an experimental data set of air-CMC solution from the literature. Besides, potential areas for research encompassing operating conditions, column geometry, physical properties, modeling and simulation, rheological properties, flow regime, etc., have been underlined, and the need for developing newer correlations for gas holdup has been outlined. The review may be useful for the modeling and design of bubble columns.


Author(s):  
S Dhanasekaran ◽  
T Karunanithi

A novel hybrid rotating and reciprocating perforated plate bubble column is designed indigenously. The novelty lies in combining the effects of stirred tank reactors, bubble columns and reciprocating plate columns using bevel gear arrangement. Box-Behnken experimental design in response surface methodology is chosen to predict the relationship between experimental variables and desired response of gas holdup. Agitation level, superficial gas velocity, superficial liquid velocity, perforation diameter and plate spacing are used as experimental variables. Air-water system is used in this investigation. The linear, square and interactive effects of experimental variables on gas holdup are studied. The F-test and P values were used to identify the experimental variables that significantly impact gas holdup.


Author(s):  
Allison Studley ◽  
Francine Battaglia

The mixing characteristics in bubble columns and airlift reactors are analyzed using computational fluid dynamics. In the simulations, an Eulerian-Eulerian approach was used to model air as the dispersed phase within a continuous phase of water using the commercial software FLUENT. The Schiller-Naumann drag model was employed along with virtual mass and the standard k–ε turbulence model. An effective bubble diameter was specified for each case studied and depended on the inlet gas velocity specified. The predicted flow field in the airlift geometry showed a regular oscillation of the gas flow due to flow recirculating from the downcomer and connectors, whereas the bubble column oscillations were random and resulted in flow moving through the center of the column. The profiles of gas holdup, gas velocity, and liquid velocity versus column width showed that the airlift reactor flow is asymmetric and the profile shape varied along the height of the column. The bubble column flow became independent of height after 20 cm above the inlet because there was less mixing than the airlift reactor. It was shown that the airlift reactor increased the mixing of the gas-liquid flow due to the addition of the downcomer. The airlift reactor showed less gas holdup in the riser than the bubble column but its velocity and gas holdup never became independent of column diameter like in the bubble column. The gas and liquid flow field showed increased mixing with increasing inlet velocity.


Author(s):  
Lu Han ◽  
Ibrahim A. Said ◽  
Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Abstract An advanced gaseous tracer technique and procedures were developed and executed to study for the first time the axial dispersion of the gas phase in a slurry bubble column reactor (SBCR) using air-C9C11-FT catalyst. Residence time distribution (RTD) curves were obtained by measuring the pulse-input’s response of the gaseous tracer. The gas phase axial dispersion coefficient (Dg) was obtained from minimum square error fit of the one-dimensional axial dispersion model to the measured tracer response data. The effects of solids loading on the axial dispersion of gas phase and the overall gas holdup have been studied. It was demonstrated that increasing solids loading improves the gas axial dispersion while decreasing the overall gas holdup. This work suggests that gas phase axial dispersion is significant in reactor performance evaluation of bubble columns or slurry bubble columns.


Author(s):  
Arsam Behkish ◽  
Romain Lemoine ◽  
Laurent Sehabiague ◽  
Rachid Oukaci ◽  
Badie I Morsi

The total gas holdup and the holdup of large gas bubbles were predicted in bubble column reactors (BCRs) and slurry bubble column rectors (SBCRs) using two Back-Propagation Neural Networks (BPNNs). Over 3880 and 1425 data points for gas holdup and Large gas bubble holdup respectively, covering wide ranges of gas-liquid-solid physical properties, operating variables, reactor geometry, and gas sparger type/size, were employed to develop, train and validate the two neural networks. The developed BPNN for gas holdup has a topology of [14,9-7,1] and was able to predict the trained and untrained data with an average absolute relative error (AARE), standard deviation, and regression coefficient (R2) of 16, 19 and 90%, respectively. The developed BPNN for large gas bubble holdup has a topology of [14,8,1] and was capable of predicting the trained and untrained data with AARE, standard deviation, and R2 of 10, 14 and 93%, respectively. The BPNNs were then used to predict the effects of pressure, superficial gas velocity, temperature and catalyst loading on the total syngas holdup for Low-Temperature Fischer-Tropsch (LTFT) synthesis carried out in a 5 m ID SBCR. The predicted total syngas holdup appeared to increase with increasing reactor pressure, superficial gas velocity and the number of orifices in the gas sparger. The predicted syngas holdup, however, was found to decrease with increasing catalyst loading and reactor temperature. Also, under similar LTFT operating conditions (P = 3 MPa, T = 513 K, CW = 30 and 50 wt%), the total syngas holdup values predicted for H2/CO ratio of 2:1 and cobalt-based catalyst are consistently lower than those obtained for H2/CO ratio of 1:1 and iron oxide catalyst in the superficial gas velocity range from 0.005 to 0.4 m/s. These predictions are in perfect agreement with reported literature trends, which underscore the reliability and validity of the developed BPNNs in predicting the total syngas holdup and the holdup of large gas bubbles in large-scale bubble columns and SBCRs operating under industrial conditions.


Author(s):  
Deify Law ◽  
Francine Battaglia ◽  
Theodore J. Heindel

There is great potential for using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a tool in scale-up and design of bubble columns. Full-scale experimentation in bubble columns is expensive and CFD is an alternative approach to study bubble column hydrodynamics. However, CFD can be computationally intensive as a predictive tool for a full three-dimensional geometry. In this paper, a 0.2 m diameter semi-batch bubble column is numerically simulated and the results are compared to experimental measurements performed by Rampure et al. [1]. The objectives are to examine and determine an appropriate set of numerical parameters and to determine if two-dimensional simulations are able to accurately predict observed bubble phenomena so that the computational cost can be reduced. A two-fluid Eulerian-Eulerian model is employed to represent each phase as interpenetrating continua and the conservation equations for mass and momentum for each phase are ensemble-averaged. Time-averaged gas holdup is mainly examined due to its significant role in gas-liquid mass transfer and to compare to available data. Numerical predictions are presented for gas holdup at various axial heights as a function of radial position for a superficial gas velocity of 0.1 m/s. The numerical predictions exhibit the axial development of the gas holdup profile phenomena; that is, the gas holdup at the center of the column increases with increasing axial height. The effects of grid resolution and convergence criteria on the numerical predictions are also demonstrated.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
TROY RUNGE ◽  
CHUNHUI ZHANG

Agricultural residues and energy crops are promising resources that can be utilized in the pulp and paper industry. This study examines the potential of co-cooking nonwood materials with hardwoods as means to incorporate nonwood material into a paper furnish. Specifically, miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover were substituted for poplar hardwood chips in the amounts of 10 wt %, 20 wt %, and 30 wt %, and the blends were subjected to kraft pulping experiments. The pulps were then bleached with an OD(EP)D sequence and then refined and formed into handsheets to characterize their physical properties. Surprisingly, all three co-cooked pulps showed improved strength properties (up to 35%). Sugar measurement of the pulps by high-performance liquid chromatography suggested that the strength increase correlated with enriched xylan content.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 611-617
Author(s):  
Sabrina Burkhardt

The traditional kappa number method was developed in 1960 as a way to more quickly determine the level of lignin remaining in a completed or in-progress pulp. A significantly faster approach than the Klason lignin procedure, the kappa number method is based on the reaction of a strong oxidizing agent (KMnO4) with lignin and small amounts of other organic functional groups present in the pulp, such as hexenuronic acid. While the usefulness of the kappa number for providing information about bleaching requirements and pulp properties has arguably transformed the pulp and paper industry, it has been mostly developed for kraft, sulfite, and soda wood pulps. Nonwood species have a different chemical makeup than hardwood or softwood sources. These chemical differ-ences can influence kappa and Klason measurements on the pulp and lead to wide ranges of error. Both original data from Sustainable Fiber Technologies’ sulfur and chlorine-free pulping process and kappa and Klason data from various nonwood pulp literature sources will be presented to challenge the assumption that the kappa number accurately represents lignin content in nonwood pulps.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document