The Caltech Photooxidation Flow Tube Reactor – I: Design and Fluid Dynamics

Flow tube reactors are employed to study gas-phase atmospheric chemistry and secondary organic aerosol formation. A new laminar flow tube reactor, the Caltech PhotoOxidation flow Tube (CPOT), has been designed with the aim of achieving a well-characterized fluid dynamic and residence time environment. We present here the design and fluid dynamical characterization of the CPOT, based on the fundamental behavior of vapor molecules and particles in the reactor. The design of the inlet of the CPOT, which was based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, comprises a static mixer and a conical diffuser to facilitate rapid development of the characteristic laminar flow parabolic profile. A CFD laminar flow model is developed to simulate the residence time distribution (RTD) of vapor molecules and particles in the CPOT. To assess the extent to which the actual performance adheres to the theoretical CFD model, RTD experiments were conducted with O3 and sub-micrometer ammonium sulfate particles. The measured RTD profiles do not strictly adhere to theory, owing to slightly non-isothermal conditions in the reactor, which lead to secondary flows. Introducing an enhanced eddy-like diffusivity for the vapor molecules and particles in the laminar flow model significantly improves the model-experiment agreement. These characterization experiments, in addition to the idealized computational behavior, provide a basis on which to evaluate the performance of the CPOT as a chemical reactor.