scholarly journals Effects of EOR chemicals and superficial gas velocity on bubble size and gas holdup of a bubble column

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Aloisio E. Orlando ◽  
Luiz F. Barca ◽  
Tania S. Klein ◽  
Ricardo A. Medronho
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Chloride ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bubble Size ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Fluid Viscosity ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity ◽  
Polymer Surfactant

Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) can boost oil extraction in offshore operations, however one of the main concerns regarding its application is how the efficiency of flotation units for treating produced water is affected. The present work thus focuses on investigating the impact of EOR chemicals on the physical properties of EOR effluents and how this can affect flotation performance parameters such as bubble size and gas holdup. Design of experiments has been used to assess the influence of polymer, surfactant and sodium chloride concentrations on bubble size and gas holdup of a laboratorial bubble column. The influence of superficial gas velocity has also been assessed together with chemicals concentrations, yet at low levels in order to avoid clusters, swarms and foam. The characterization of the synthetic effluent containing polymer, surfactant and sodium chloride has indicated that the fluid behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid, what makes separation processes in flotation cells challenging. Results showed that polymer concentration of 2000 mg/L can lead to significant increases in fluid viscosity, promote a growth of more than 40% in bubble size and only increases gas holdup when surfactant is present at high concentration. Therefore, polymers are expected to be detrimental to produced water treatment. Surfactants decrease both fluid surface tension and bubble size, increasing gas holdup. For the range studied, superficial gas velocity favors gas holdup and sodium chloride concentration seems to weakly influence bubble size and gas holdup. This work highlights the fact that changes in physical properties of produced water do modify bubble size distribution and gas holdup and this must therefore be taken into account when flotation-like systems are designed to deal with EOR effluents.

Effect of Vibrating Sparger on Mass Transfer, Gas Holdup, and Bubble Size in a Bubble Column Reactor

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laleh Hadavand ◽  
Ali Fadavi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Mass Transfer Coefficient ◽  
Vibration Frequency ◽  
Bubble Size ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Bubble Column Reactor ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

Abstract Bubble size has a key role in gas holdup and mass transfer in bubble column reactors. In order to have small and uniform bubbles, a new structure was designed; the reactor operates in two modes, with vibrating sparger and conventional bubble column in which sparger is fixed. In vibrating mode, the sparger vibrates gently during gas entering. The vibrating sparger performs like a paddle, resulting in a forced recirculation of gas–liquid inside the reactor; moreover, the bubble detachment is accelerated. The superficial gas velocity was between 0.003 and 0.013 ms− 1, and the vibration frequency was changed between 0 and 10.3 Hz. The bubble size was measured at three various positions of the reactor height by photographic method and using MATLAB 7.0.1 software. The mass transfer coefficient was determined by means of the dynamic gassing-out method. The results show that the bubbles were bigger in vibrating mode than those working without vibration. The bubble size decreases with increase in height from sparger. Gas holdup increased with increase in superficial gas velocity and vibration frequency. The effect of vibration increased the gas holdup with an average of 70% for all superficial gas velocities. Volumetric mass transfer coefficient was almost stable as vibration frequency increased.

Hydrodynamic Study of a Gas–liquid–solid Bubble Column Employing CFD–BPBM Method

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiling Li ◽  
Chuanwen Zhao ◽  
Ping Lu
Keyword(s):  
Bubble Size ◽  
Volume Fraction ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Particle Density ◽  
Solid Volume Fraction ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
Bubble Coalescence ◽  
Phase System ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

Abstract The computational fluid dynamics – bubble population balance model (CFD–BPBM) was employed to predict the hydrodynamic characteristics of a gas–liquid–solid bubble column. A 3D time dependent numerical study was performed and the bubble size distributions at the conditions of different superficial gas velocity (0.089 m/s–0.22 m/s), solid volume fraction (0.03–0.30) and particle density (2500 kg/m3–4800 kg/m3) in the three–phase system were investigated, and the simulation results were compared with the experimental results. The bubble diameters ranging from 1 mm to 64 mm were divided into ten classes. The predicted pressure changing with the bed height had a good agreemeet with the experimental result. The bubble number density predicted decreased when the bubble size increased at each superficial gas velocity, and the bubble coalescence rate became greater than the breakup rate when Ug shifted from 0.089 m/s to 0.16 m/s. The bubble interaction was similar at 0.16 m/s and 0.22 m/s both at particle size dp = 75 μm and 150 μm. The bubble size corresponding to the maximum of the bubble volume fraction increased as Ug increased. The particles can make the bubble break up and coalesce simultaneously when the solid volume fraction was larger than 0.20, and therefore the particles had a contribution to both of the bubble coalescence and breakup in the bubble coalescence regime (Ug = 0.16 m/s). The effect of the particle density was similar with that of the solid volume fraction. Increasing the particle density can enhance the breakup rate of the large bubbles.

CFD-PBM simulation of hydrodynamics of microbubble column with shear-thinning fluid

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Zhang ◽  
Ping Zhu ◽  
Shuaichao Li ◽  
Wenyuan Fan ◽  
Jingyan Lian
Keyword(s):  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Radial Direction ◽  
Liquid Velocity ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Gas Distributor ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity ◽  
The Right

Abstract A numerical simulation was performed to study the hydrodynamics of micro-bubble swarm in bubble column with polyacrylamide (PAM) aqueous solution by using computational fluid dynamics coupled with population balance models (CFD-PBM). By considering rheological characteristics of fluid, this approach was able to accurately predict the features of bubble swarm, and validated by comparing with the experimental results. The gas holdup, turbulent kinetic energy and liquid velocity of bubble column have been elucidated by considering the influences of superficial gas velocity and gas distributor size respectively. The results show that with the rise of the superficial gas velocity, the gas holdup and its peak width increase significantly. Especially, the curve peak corresponding to high gas velocity tends to drift obviously toward the right side. Except for the occurrence of a smooth holdup peak at the column center under the condition of the moderate distributor size, the gas holdups for the small and large distributor sizes become flat in the radial direction respectively. The distribution of turbulent kinetic energy presents an increasingly asymmetrical feature in the radial direction and also its variation amplitude enhances obviously with the rise of gas velocity. The increase in gas distributor size can enhance markedly turbulent kinetic energy as well as its overall influenced width. At the low and moderate superficial gas velocity, the curves of the liquid velocity in radial direction present the Gaussian distributions, whereas the perfect distribution always is broken in the symmetry for high gas velocity. Both liquid velocities around the bubble column center and the ones near both column walls go up consistently with the gas distributor size, especially near the walls at the large distributor size condition.

Numerical Simulation With a CFD-PBM Model of Hydrodynamics and Bubble Size Distribution of a Rectangle Bubble Column

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Gang Ding ◽  
Xia Lu ◽  
Fu-Li Deng
Keyword(s):  
Size Distribution ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Bubble Size ◽  
Discrete Model ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Bubble Size Distribution ◽  
Bubble Coalescence ◽  
Complex Behavior ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

A coupled CFD-PBM (population balance mode) model is adopted to investigate complex behavior in a rectangle bubble column. In this work The Euler–Euler (E–E) model was adopted for the liquid phase and gas phase, while accounting for bubble coalescence and breakup a PBM discrete model was employed. The total gas holdup for a range of superficial gas velocities were studied and compared with the literature and modest agreement was found. The simulation result shows that the superficial gas velocity has great effect on bubble size distribution, and a wider bubble size distribution is found at higher superficial gas velocity. This indicates an increasing of the superficial gas velocity increases the bubble coalescence and break-up rate.

scholarly journals Homogeneous and re-circulatory gas–liquid flow in a bubble column: A numerical investigation using OpenFOAM

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saroj K. Panda
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Flow ◽  
Bubble Size ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Cfd Model ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Drag Forces ◽  
Circulatory Flow ◽  
Gas Liquid Flow ◽  
Lift And Drag ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

AbstractThis work presents the influence of the sparger opening area, gas velocity, and bubble size on hydrodynamics and transition of the flow regime from uniform to re-circulatory in a rectangular bubble column using OpenFOAM. In the course of development of the model, the effect of several drag closures and lift on the predictability of the CFD model was studied by comparing the predictions with published experimental results. Reynolds number-based drag closure was found to be suitable for uniform sparger whereas Tsuchiya drag (Tsuchiya et al. in Chem Eng Sci 52:3053–3066, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0009-2509(97)00127-9) was used to simulate gas–liquid flow for other spargers. Simulations were performed for seven different spargers with opening area 18–100% (superficial gas velocity of 2.9–5.8 cm/s) and bubble size of 2–8 mm. The smaller opening area and higher gas velocity promote the re-circulatory flow in the bubble column. Change in bubble size affects the hydrodynamics due to change in lift and drag forces.

scholarly journals The Effect of a Modified Downcomer on the Hydrodynamics in an External Loop Airlift Reactor

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Jones ◽  
Theodore J. Heindel
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Velocity ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Airlift Reactor ◽  
Open Area ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
External Loop ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Liquid Velocity

Gas holdup and superficial liquid velocity in the downcomer and riser are studied for an external loop airlift reactor with an area ratio of 1:16. Two downcomer configurations are investigated consisting of the downcomer open or closed to the atmosphere. Experiments for these two configurations are carried out over a range of superficial gas velocities from UG = 0.5 to 20 cm/s using three aeration plates with open area ratios of 0.62, 0.99 and 2.22%. These results are compared to a bubble column operated with similar operating conditions. Experimental results show that the gas holdup in the riser does not vary significantly with a change in the downcomer configuration or bubble column operation, while a considerable variation is observed in the downcomer gas holdup. Gas holdup in both the riser and downcomer are found to increase with increasing superficial gas velocity. Test results also show that the maximum gas holdup for the three aerator plates is similar, but the gas holdup trends are different. The superficial liquid velocity is found to vary considerably for the two downcomer configurations. However, for both cases the superficial liquid velocity is a function of the superficial gas velocity and/or the flow condition in the downcomer. These observed variations are independent of the aerator plate open area ratio. When the downcomer vent is open to the atmosphere, the superficial liquid velocity is initially observed to increase with increasing superficial gas velocity until the onset of choking occurs in the downcomer. Increasing the superficial gas velocity beyond the onset of choking increases the effect of choking and decreases the superficial liquid velocity. Once maximum choking is reached, the superficial liquid velocity becomes independent of the superficial gas velocity. When the downcomer vent is closed to the atmosphere, the superficial liquid velocity is initially observed to decrease with increasing superficial gas velocity as choking in the downcomer is immediately present. Once maximum choking occurs, the superficial liquid velocity once again becomes independent of the superficial gas velocity.

Effect of L/D Ratio on Phase Holdup and Bubble Dynamics in Slurry Bubble Column using Optical Fiber Probe Measurements

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 653-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saba A. Gheni ◽  
Yasser I. Abdulaziz ◽  
Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan
Keyword(s):  
Optical Fiber ◽  
Bubble Dynamics ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Solid Loading ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Fiber Probe ◽  
Optical Fiber Probe ◽  
Slurry Bubble Column ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

Abstract In this investigation, time average local gas holdup and bubble dynamic data were achieved for three L/D ratios of slurry bubble column. The examined ratios were 3, 4 and 5 in 18″ diameter slurry bubble column. Air-water-glass bead system was used with superficial gas velocity up to 0.24 m/s. The gas holdup was measured using four tips optical fiber probe technique. The results showed that the gas holdup increases almost linearly with the superficial gas velocity in 0.08 m/s and levels off with a further increase of velocity. A comparison of the present data with those reported for other slurry bubble column having diameters greater than 18″ and L/D higher than 5 was made. The results indicated a little effect of diameter on the gas holdup. A local, section-averaged gas holdup increases with increasing superficial gas velocity, while the effect of solid loading are less significant than that of the superficial gas velocity. Chaos analysis was used to analyze the slurry system.

scholarly journals Simulation Study on Gas Holdup of Large and Small Bubbles in a High Pressure Gas–Liquid Bubble Column

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangfang Tao ◽  
Shanglei Ning ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Haibo Jin ◽  
Guangxiang He
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
High Pressure ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Bubble Diameter ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Operating Pressure ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity ◽  
Critical Bubble ◽  
Small Bubbles

The computational fluid dynamics-population balance model (CFD-PBM) has been presented and used to evaluate the bubble behavior in a large-scale high pressure bubble column with an inner diameter of 300 mm and a height of 6600 mm. In the heterogeneous flow regime, bubbles can be divided into “large bubbles” and “small bubbles” by a critical bubble diameter dc. In this study, large and small bubbles were classified according to different slopes in the experiment only by the method of dynamic gas disengagement, the critical bubble diameter was determined to be 7 mm by the experimental results and the simulation values. In addition, the effects of superficial gas velocity, operating pressure, surface tension and viscosity on gas holdup of large and small bubbles in gas–liquid two-phase flow were investigated using a CFD-PBM coupling model. The results show that the gas holdup of small and large bubbles increases rapidly with the increase of superficial gas velocity. With the increase of pressure, the gas holdup of small bubbles increases significantly, and the gas holdup of large bubbles increase slightly. Under the same superficial gas velocity, the gas holdup of large bubbles increases with the decrease of viscosity and the decrease of surface tension, but the gas holdup of small bubbles increases significantly. The simulated values of the coupled model have a good agreement with the experimental values, which can be applied to the parameter estimation of the high pressure bubble column system.

Impact of Dense Internals on Fluid Dynamic Parameters in Bubble Column

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinesh V. Kalaga ◽  
Vishal Bhusare ◽  
H.J. Pant ◽  
Jyeshtharaj B. Joshi ◽  
Shantanu Roy
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Turbulent Kinetic Energy ◽  
Liquid Velocity ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Vertical Tube ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

Abstract Industrial gas-liquid processes such as oxidation, hydrogenation, Fischer-Trospch synthesis, liquid-phase methanol synthesis, and nuclear fission are exothermic in nature; the reactor of choice for such processes is, therefore, a bubble column equipped with heat exchanging internals. In addition to maintaining the desired process temperature, the heat exchanging vertical tube internals are used to control flow structures and liquid back mixing. The present work reports the experimentally measured gas hold-up, mean liquid velocity and liquid phase turbulent kinetic energy, using the Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) technique, in a 120 mm diameter bubble column equipped with dense vertical tube internals covering 23 % of the total cross-sectional area of the column. The effect of superficial gas velocity (44–265 mm/s) on gas hold-up, mean liquid velocity and turbulent kinetic energy is presented and discussed. It has been inferred from the experimental results that the vertical tube internal located at the center of the column plays a vital role in affecting the hydrodynamics when compared to the conventional internal configurations reported in the literature. For the chosen dense internal configuration, the cross-sectional distribution of the gas holdup, mean liquid velocity and turbulent kinetic energy show asymmetry for all the superficial gas velocities investigated. The overall gas holdup and the liquid turbulence increases with an increase in the superficial gas velocity. The strong liquid circulation velocities have been seen upon the insertion of the dense internals.

Prediction of the Gas Holdup in Industrial-Scale Bubble Columns and Slurry Bubble Column Reactors Using Back-Propagation Neural Networks

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arsam Behkish ◽  
Romain Lemoine ◽  
Laurent Sehabiague ◽  
Rachid Oukaci ◽  
Badie I Morsi
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Bubble Column ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Gas Holdup ◽  
Bubble Columns ◽  
Catalyst Loading ◽  
Gas Bubble ◽  
Gas Velocity ◽  
Bubble Column Reactors ◽  
Superficial Gas Velocity

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.

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