Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2017.11.005

Chin.J.Chem.Eng. ›› 2018, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 484-493.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2017.11.005

• Separation Science and Engineering • Previous Articles Next Articles

Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

Zhengshu Dai¹, Meng Yu², Daozhe Rui², Xuejun Zhang², Yang Zhao²

1 School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Refrigeration and Cryogenic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Received:2017-04-26 Revised:2017-11-10 Online:2018-04-18 Published:2018-03-28
Contact: Xuejun Zhang
Supported by:
Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB0603702), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Y15E060014), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51636007), and Shanghai Young Teachers Development Program (10-16-301-801).

Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

Zhengshu Dai¹, Meng Yu², Daozhe Rui², Xuejun Zhang², Yang Zhao²

1 School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Refrigeration and Cryogenic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

通讯作者: Xuejun Zhang
基金资助:
Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFB0603702), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Y15E060014), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51636007), and Shanghai Young Teachers Development Program (10-16-301-801).

Abstract

Abstract: Due to the increasing global demand for industrial gas, the development of large-scale cryogenic air separation systems has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Increasing the height of the adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber used in cryogenic air separation systems may efficiently increase the treatment capacity of the air in the adsorber. However, uniformity of the flow distribution of the air inside the adsorber would be deteriorated using the height-increasing method. In order to reduce the non-uniformity of the flow distribution caused by the excessive height of adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber, a novel parallel connection method is proposed in the present work. The experimental apparatus is designed and constructed; the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique is used to develop a CFD-based model, which is used to analyze the flow distribution, the static pressure drop and the radial velocity in the newly designed adsorber. In addition, the geometric parameters of annular flow channels and the adsorption bed thickness of the upper unit in the parallelconnected vertical radial flow adsorber are optimized, so that the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously. Comparisons are made between the height-increasing method and the parallel connection method with the same adsorber height. It is shown that using the parallel connection method could reduce the difference between the maximum and minimum radial static pressure drop by 86.2% and improve the uniformity by 80% compared with those of using the height-increasing method. The optimal thickness ratio of the upper and lower adsorption units is obtained as 0.966, in which case the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously, so that the adsorbents in adsorption space could be used more efficiently.

Key words: Air separation, Purification, Vertical radial flow adsorber, Flow distribution, Optimization

摘要： Due to the increasing global demand for industrial gas, the development of large-scale cryogenic air separation systems has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Increasing the height of the adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber used in cryogenic air separation systems may efficiently increase the treatment capacity of the air in the adsorber. However, uniformity of the flow distribution of the air inside the adsorber would be deteriorated using the height-increasing method. In order to reduce the non-uniformity of the flow distribution caused by the excessive height of adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber, a novel parallel connection method is proposed in the present work. The experimental apparatus is designed and constructed; the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique is used to develop a CFD-based model, which is used to analyze the flow distribution, the static pressure drop and the radial velocity in the newly designed adsorber. In addition, the geometric parameters of annular flow channels and the adsorption bed thickness of the upper unit in the parallelconnected vertical radial flow adsorber are optimized, so that the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously. Comparisons are made between the height-increasing method and the parallel connection method with the same adsorber height. It is shown that using the parallel connection method could reduce the difference between the maximum and minimum radial static pressure drop by 86.2% and improve the uniformity by 80% compared with those of using the height-increasing method. The optimal thickness ratio of the upper and lower adsorption units is obtained as 0.966, in which case the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously, so that the adsorbents in adsorption space could be used more efficiently.

关键词: Air separation, Purification, Vertical radial flow adsorber, Flow distribution, Optimization

Zhengshu Dai, Meng Yu, Daozhe Rui, Xuejun Zhang, Yang Zhao. Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method[J]. Chin.J.Chem.Eng., 2018, 26(3): 484-493.

Zhengshu Dai, Meng Yu, Daozhe Rui, Xuejun Zhang, Yang Zhao. Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2018, 26(3): 484-493.

References

[1] F.G. Kerry, Industrial Gas Handbook, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2010.

[2] J.L. Lu, X.J. Zhang, L.M. Qiu, X.L. Wang, Theoretical analysis of uniform flow distribution in vertical radial adsorption bed, CIESC J. 63(S2) (2012) 21-25(in Chinese).

[3] Y. Chen, X.J. Zhang, J.L. Lu, L.M. Qiu, X.B. Zhang, D.M. Sun, Z.H. Gan, Flow characteristics of radial flow adsorber and its structure parameters optimization, CIESC J. 65(9) (2014) 3395-3402(in Chinese).

[4] C.F. Zhang, Z.B. Zhu, M.S. Xu, B.C. Zhu, An investigation of design on the uniform fluid distribution for radial flow reactors, J. Chem. Ind. Eng. 28(1) (1979) 67-90.

[5] H.C. Chang, J.M. Calo, An analysis of radial flow packed bed reactors, ACS Symp. Ser. 168(1981) 305-329.

[6] H.C. Chang, M. Saucier, J.M. Calo, Design criterion for radial flow fixed-bed reactors, AIChE J. 29(6) (1983) 1039-1041.

[7] C.S. Yoo, A.G. Dixon, Modelling and simulation of a mixed-flow reactor for ammonia and methanol synthesis, Chem. Eng. Sci. 43(10) (1988) 2859-2865.

[8] P.R. Ponzi, L.A. Kaye, Effect of flow maldistribution on conversion and selectivity in radial flow fixed-bed reactors, AIChE J. 25(1) (2004) 100-108.

[9] A.A. Kareeri, H.D. Zughbi, H.H. Al-Ali, Simulation of flow distribution in radial flow reactors, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 45(8) (2006) 2862-2874.

[10] R.J. Li, Z.B. Zhu, Investigations on hydrodynamics of multilayer π-type radial flow reactors, Asia Pac. J. Chem. Eng. 7(4) (2012) 517-527.

[11] X.J. Zhang, J.L. Lu, L.M. Qiu, X.B. Zhang, X.L. Wang, A mathematical model for designing optimal shape for the cone used in Z-flow type radial flow adsorbers, Chin. J. Chem. Eng. 21(5) (2013) 494-499.

[12] M. Farsi, DME production in multi-stage radial flow spherical membrane reactors:reactor design and modeling, J. Nat. Gas Sci. Eng. 20(2014) 366-372.

[13] N. Hamedi, T. Tohidian, M.R. Rahimpour, D. Iranshahi, S. Raeissi, Conversion enhancement of heavy reformates into xylenes by optimal design of a novel radial flow packed bed reactor, applying a detailed kinetic model, Chem. Eng. Res. Des. 95(2015) 317-336.

[14] X.G. Zheng, Y.S. Liu, W.H. Liu, Two-dimensional modeling of the transport phenomena in the adsorber during pressure swing adsorption process, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 49(22) (2010) 11814-11824.

[15] X.G. Zheng, Y.S. Liu, Y.L. Li, H. Zhang, W.H. Liu, Velocity distribution in axial adsorber with consideration of mass variation, J. Univ. Sci. Technol. B 33(11) (2011) 1412-1418.

[16] D.X. Sun, The applicable range, defect and correction of equivalent diameter used hydraulic diameter, J. Eng. Thermophys. 8(4) (1987) 357-362.

[17] M.Z. Lu, Q.X. Wu, The test and prospect of the vertical radial flow adsorber, Cryog Technol. (2) (1992) 15-21.

[18] J.F. Wang, Z.W. Wang, Y. Jin, Z.Q. Yu, Simulation of the gas distribution system for a radial flow moving-bed catalytic reforming reactor in change state flow, Petrochem. Technol. 133(1) (1997) 31-36.

[19] Z.Z. Mu, J.F. Wang, T.F. Wang, Y. Jin, Optimum design of radial flow moving-bed reactors based on a mathematical hydrodynamic model, Chem. Eng. Process. 42(5) (2003) 409-417.

[20] T. Petrova, R. Darakchiev, K. Semkov, S. Darakchiev, Estimations of gas flow maldistribution in packed-bed columns, Chem. Eng. Technol. 31(12) (2008) 1723-1729.

Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

share this article

References

Related Articles 15

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments

[1]	Chuang Liang, Zhihao Liu, Baochang Sun, Haikui Zou, Guangwen Chu. Improvement in discharge characteristics and energy yield of ozone generation via configuration optimization of a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 60(8): 61-68.
[2]	Yuan Liu, Hanting Xiong, Jingwen Chen, Shixia Chen, Zhenyu Zhou, Zheling Zeng, Shuguang Deng, Jun Wang. One-step ethylene separation from ternary C₂ hydrocarbon mixture with a robust zirconium metal-organic framework [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 59(7): 9-15.
[3]	Yong Xu, Qingbai Chen, Yang Gao, Jianyou Wang, Huiqing Fan, Fei Zhao. Performance comparison of lithium fractionation from magnesium via continuous selective nanofiltration/electrodialysis [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 59(7): 42-50.
[4]	Yaran Bu, Changchun Wu, Lili Zuo, Qian Chen. The calculation and optimal allocation of transmission capacity in natural gas networks with MINLP models [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 59(7): 251-261.
[5]	Runze Chen, Yuran Chen, Xuemin Liang, Yapeng Kong, Yangyang Fan, Quan Liu, Zhenyu Yang, Feiying Tang, Johnny Muya Chabu, Maru Dessie Walle, Liqiang Wang. Oxidative exfoliation of spent cathode carbon: A two-in-one strategy for its decontamination and high-valued application [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 59(7): 262-269.
[6]	Danlei Chen, Yiqing Luo, Xigang Yuan. Cascade refrigeration system synthesis based on hybrid simulated annealing and particle swarm optimization algorithm [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 58(6): 244-255.
[7]	Yunchang Fan, Chunyan Zhu, Sheli Zhang, Lei Zhang, Qiang Wang, Feng Wang. Efficient and selective extraction of sinomenine by deep eutectic solvents [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 57(5): 109-117.
[8]	Jikai Dong, Bing Wang, Xinjie Wang, Chenxi Cao, Shikuan Chen, Wenli Du. Optimization of sensor deployment sequences for hazardous gas leakage monitoring and source term estimation [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 56(4): 169-179.
[9]	Dandan Ren, Shanshan Xiang, Yuwen Yan, Ruiying Kong, Xingchu Gong. Design and optimization of purification process of sinomenine hydrochloride [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 55(3): 63-72.
[10]	Yingjun Lin. Whole-process optimization for industrial production of glucosamine sulfate sodium chloride based on QbD concept [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 54(2): 153-161.
[11]	Shan Liu, Wenqi Zhong, Xi Chen, Li Sun, Lukuan Yang. Multiobjective economic model predictive control using utopia-tracking for the wet flue gas desulphurization system [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 54(2): 343-352.
[12]	Chao Zhang, Youzhi Liu, Weizhou Jiao, Hongyan Shen, Xigang Yuan, Shengkun Jia. An optimization method for enhancement of gas–liquid mass transfer in a bubble column reactor based on the entropy generation extremum principle [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 53(1): 83-88.
[13]	Monique Juna L. Leite, Ingrid Ramalho Marques, Mariane Carolina Proner, Pedro H.H. Araújo, Alan Ambrosi, Marco Di Luccio. Catalytically active membranes for esterification: A review [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 53(1): 142-154.
[14]	Juanjuan Liu, Xiaolong Lu, Guiming Shu, Ke Li, Shuyun Zheng, Xiao Kong, Tao Li, Jun Yang. The facile method developed for preparing polyvinylidene fluoride plasma separation membrane via macromolecular interaction [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2022, 49(9): 140-149.
[15]	Xinqiang You, Kai Zhao, Ling Li, Ting Qiu. Ionic liquids as entrainer in extractive distillation for effectively separating 1-propanol–water azeotropic mixture [J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2022, 49(9): 224-233.