Influence of Liquid Properties and Design Parameters on Mass Transfer in Gas–Liquid Flow through a Miniaturized Reactor

Abstract

This paper presents the results of oxygen absorption from air in various liquid media within a rectangular milli-channel equipped with exchangeable staggered herringbone-like mixing inserts. We have determined the volumetric liquid-side mass transfer coefficient k L a using three different liquid substances (water, ethanol, and polypropylene glycol) in a range of superficial liquid velocities of 0.047–0.210 m s–1 and superficial gas velocities of 0.012–0.210 m s–1. From this data, we derived an empirical k L a-correlation. Overall, k L a values ranging from 0.036–0.515 s–1 were obtained, and the correlation predicts k L a with a coefficient of determination of R 2 = 0.93. We have also examined the influences of changing the static mixer design parameters on the mass transfer performance and evaluated the mixer efficiency by taking the power consumption into account. Depending on liquid properties, the right choice of a mixer design leads to a significant improvement in mass transfer and/or efficiency.

Intensifying the Absorption of CO2 in Water Using a Static Mixer; Part II: Effect of Reactor Design

“…The correlation that best describes the results is shown in eq and its parity plot is shown in Figure . This correlation is similar to the one presented in our earlier work in terms of its dependency on the energy dissipation rate and the gas holdup, and is in line with various studies that correlate k L a with similar parameters for ease of comparison with other mixers. ,,, However, it is interesting to note that the effect of changing the screen-type static mixers on the results is best quantified by using the fractional open area, α, of the screen. …”

“…Different correlations were used to describe the volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k L a , in static mixers. Denker et al recently classified them as either a function of the liquid and gas-phase velocities ( k L a ∝ U L α · U G β ) or as a function of the power input per unit volume and the volumetric gas content ( k L a ∝ ( P / V ) α ·ϕ β ). However, other correlations also exist in the literature, for example, Thakur et al listed correlations for k L a with respect to ( U L α ·ϕ β ) and Martin and Galey correlated k L a with [Δ P α ·( Q G / Q L ) β ].…”

“…This correlation is similar to the one presented in our earlier work 4 in terms of its dependency on the energy dissipation rate and the gas holdup, and is in line with various studies that correlate k L a with similar parameters for ease of comparison with other mixers. 45,46,48,49 However, it is interesting to note that the effect of changing the screen-type static mixers on the results is best quantified by using the fractional open area, α, of the screen.…”

“…Different correlations were used to describe the volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k L a, in static mixers. Denker et al46 recently classified them as either a function of the liquid and gas-phase velocities (k…”

Introducing the I&ECR Virtual Collection of Industrial and Industrially Relevant Research (2022–2023)

“…Thermodynamics, Transport, and Fluid Mechanics is the topic area in I&ECR with the highest rate of participation of industrial authors as a percentage of the articles published. The collection includes a study on thermodynamic performance of three different autothermal chemical gas looping operation modes, the extrusion of polyacrylonitrile fibers using a very high L/D extruder (recognized with a cover in May 2023), description of mass transfer in gas–liquid flow, a kinetic model for CO 2 adsorption on amine-functionalized MOFs, description of microbubble transport in stirred reactors, two articles using computational fluid dynamics, , and a view on the future of thermodynamics following the results of an industrial survey …”