Measurements of the effective mass transfer areas for the gas–liquid rotating packed bed

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2022.06.002

Abstract

Abstract: Rotating packed bed (RPB) is one of the most effective gas–liquid mass transfer enhancement reactors, its effective specific mass transfer area (a_e) is critical to understand the mass transfer process. By using the NaOH–CO₂ chemical absorption method, the a_e values of three RPB reactors with different rotor sizes were measured under different operation conditions. The results showed that the high gravity factor and liquid flow rate were major affecting factors, while the gas flow rate exhibited minor influence. The radius of packing is the dominant equipment factor to affect a_e value. The results indicated that the contact area depends on the dispersion of the liquid phase, thus the centrifugal force of rotating packed bed greatly influenced the a_e value. Moreover, the measured a_e/a_p (effective specific mass transfer area/specific surface area of packing) values were fitted with dimensionless correlation formulas. The unified correlation formula with dimensionless bed size parameter can well predict the experimental data and the prediction errors were within 15%.

Key words: Gas–liquid, Chemical absorption, Mass transfer areas, Rotating packed bed (RPB)

摘要： Rotating packed bed (RPB) is one of the most effective gas–liquid mass transfer enhancement reactors, its effective specific mass transfer area (a_e) is critical to understand the mass transfer process. By using the NaOH–CO₂ chemical absorption method, the a_e values of three RPB reactors with different rotor sizes were measured under different operation conditions. The results showed that the high gravity factor and liquid flow rate were major affecting factors, while the gas flow rate exhibited minor influence. The radius of packing is the dominant equipment factor to affect a_e value. The results indicated that the contact area depends on the dispersion of the liquid phase, thus the centrifugal force of rotating packed bed greatly influenced the a_e value. Moreover, the measured a_e/a_p (effective specific mass transfer area/specific surface area of packing) values were fitted with dimensionless correlation formulas. The unified correlation formula with dimensionless bed size parameter can well predict the experimental data and the prediction errors were within 15%.

关键词: Gas–liquid, Chemical absorption, Mass transfer areas, Rotating packed bed (RPB)

Wen Tian, Junyi Ji, Hongjiao Li, Changjun Liu, Lei Song, Kui Ma, Siyang Tang, Shan Zhong, Hairong Yue, Bin Liang. Measurements of the effective mass transfer areas for the gas–liquid rotating packed bed[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 55(3): 13-19.

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