Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2020.03.027

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2020, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (6): 1514-1521.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2020.03.027

• Fluid Dynamics and Transport Phenomena • Previous Articles Next Articles

Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

Hongyan Liu¹, Zhuo Li^1,2, Shujun Geng^2,3, Fei Gao⁴, Taobo He⁴, Qingshan Huang^2,3

1 School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology(QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), Qingdao 266101, China;
3 Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy(DNL), Dalian 116023, China;
4 Petrochemical Research Institute, China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC), Beijing 100083, China

Received:2020-01-19 Revised:2020-03-15 Online:2020-07-29 Published:2020-06-28
Contact: Shujun Geng, Qingshan Huang
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21808234; 21878318), the DNL Cooperation Fund, CAS(DNL201902), "Transformational Technologies for Clean Energy and Demonstration", Strategic Priority Research Program of the CAS(-XDA21060400), QIBEBT and Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy of the CAS(QIBEBT ZZBS201803; QIBEBT I201907), CAS Key Technology Talent Program, and Project of CNPC-DICP Joint Research Center.

Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

Hongyan Liu¹, Zhuo Li^1,2, Shujun Geng^2,3, Fei Gao⁴, Taobo He⁴, Qingshan Huang^2,3

1 School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology(QIBEBT), Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS), Qingdao 266101, China;
3 Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy(DNL), Dalian 116023, China;
4 Petrochemical Research Institute, China National Petroleum Corporation(CNPC), Beijing 100083, China

通讯作者: Shujun Geng, Qingshan Huang
基金资助:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21808234; 21878318), the DNL Cooperation Fund, CAS(DNL201902), "Transformational Technologies for Clean Energy and Demonstration", Strategic Priority Research Program of the CAS(-XDA21060400), QIBEBT and Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy of the CAS(QIBEBT ZZBS201803; QIBEBT I201907), CAS Key Technology Talent Program, and Project of CNPC-DICP Joint Research Center.

Abstract

Abstract: A new developed external loop airlift slurry reactor, which was integrated with gas-liquid-solid three-phase mixing, mass transfer, and liquid-solid separation simultaneously, was deemed to be a promising slurry reactor due to its prominent advantages such as achieving continuous separation of clear liquid from slurry and cyclic utilization of solid particles without any extra energy, energy-saving, and intrinsic safety design. The principal operating parameters, including gas separator volume, handling capacity, and superficial gas velocity, are systematically investigated here to promote the capabilities of mixing, mass transfer, and yield in the pilot external loop airlift slurry reactor. The influences of top clearance and throughput of the clear liquid on flow regime and gas holdup in the riser, liquid circulating velocity, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient with a typical high solid holdup and free of particles are examined experimentally. It was found that increasing the gas separator volume could promote the liquid circulating velocity by about 14.0% at most. Increasing the handling capacity of the clear liquid from 0.9 m³·h^-1 to 3.0 m³·h^-1 not only could increase the output without any adverse consequences, but also could enhance the liquid circulating velocity as much as 97.3%. Typical operating conditions investigated here can provide some necessary data and guidelines for this new external loop airlift slurry reactor to upgrade its performances.

Key words: External loop airlift reactor, Mixing, Separation, Hydrocyclone, Hydrodynamics, Mass transfer

摘要： A new developed external loop airlift slurry reactor, which was integrated with gas-liquid-solid three-phase mixing, mass transfer, and liquid-solid separation simultaneously, was deemed to be a promising slurry reactor due to its prominent advantages such as achieving continuous separation of clear liquid from slurry and cyclic utilization of solid particles without any extra energy, energy-saving, and intrinsic safety design. The principal operating parameters, including gas separator volume, handling capacity, and superficial gas velocity, are systematically investigated here to promote the capabilities of mixing, mass transfer, and yield in the pilot external loop airlift slurry reactor. The influences of top clearance and throughput of the clear liquid on flow regime and gas holdup in the riser, liquid circulating velocity, and volumetric mass transfer coefficient with a typical high solid holdup and free of particles are examined experimentally. It was found that increasing the gas separator volume could promote the liquid circulating velocity by about 14.0% at most. Increasing the handling capacity of the clear liquid from 0.9 m³·h^-1 to 3.0 m³·h^-1 not only could increase the output without any adverse consequences, but also could enhance the liquid circulating velocity as much as 97.3%. Typical operating conditions investigated here can provide some necessary data and guidelines for this new external loop airlift slurry reactor to upgrade its performances.

关键词: External loop airlift reactor, Mixing, Separation, Hydrocyclone, Hydrodynamics, Mass transfer

Hongyan Liu, Zhuo Li, Shujun Geng, Fei Gao, Taobo He, Qingshan Huang. Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2020, 28(6): 1514-1521.

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Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

Influences of top clearance and liquid throughput on the performances of an external loop airlift slurry reactor integrated mixing and separation

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