Numerical simulation of flow and mass transfer characteristics in porous plate bubbling column reactor

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20231331

Abstract

Abstract:

A numerical simulation investigation was performed on the gas-liquid two-phase flow and gas-liquid mass transfer characteristics within a bubbling column reactor with various numbers of horizontally placed porous plates using the Euler-Euler dual-fluid model. Furthermore, the research investigated the impact of horizontal porous plates situated at different positions and various superficial gas velocities on gas holdup, bubble diameter, and gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient in the bubbling column reactor. The results indicate that the distribution of gas holdup was affected by the quantity and location of the porous plates. As the number of porous plates increased, the gas holdup in the upper part of the liquid phase of the bubbling column reactor increased; after installing the porous plate, the average gas holdup at the inner diameter of the reactor changed significantly, resulting in an M-shaped distribution; at various superficial gas velocities, the proportion of small bubbles with a diameter of 1—2 mm accounted for over 30% in the bubbling column reactor without the installation of a porous plate. Conversely, the proportion of small bubbles increased significantly after the installation of a porous plate. The gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient is relatively gentle in the central area (radial dimensionless between -0.5 and 0.5), with little fluctuation. Finally, the volume mass transfer coefficient obtained from the simulation calculation was compared with the calculated value of Akita’s correlation equation. The calculation result was slightly higher.

Key words: bubbling column reactor, CFD-PBM model, bubble diameter, gas holdup, gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient

摘要：

采用Euler-Euler双流体模型对安装不同数量的水平多孔板的鼓泡塔内气液两相流动及传质特性进行数值模拟研究，并探究了不同表观气速条件对鼓泡塔内气含率、气泡直径分布和气液传质系数的影响。结果表明，不同数量的多孔板和不同位置的多孔板都会影响气含率的分布；随着多孔板的数目增加，鼓泡塔液相上方区域的气含率增加，但影响区域有限；安装多孔板后，鼓泡塔内径向位置的平均气含率变化明显，出现“M”形状的分布。不同表观气速下，未安装多孔板的鼓泡塔内直径为1~2 mm的微小气泡占比超过30%；安装多孔板后，微小气泡占比明显增加；气液传质系数在中心区域(径向无量纲为-0.5~0.5)较为平缓，波动不大。最后将模拟计算得到的气液体积传质系数与Akita的关联式计算值进行比较，本文计算结果略高。

关键词: 鼓泡塔, CFD-PBM模型, 气泡直径, 气含率, 气液体积传质系数

CLC Number:

TQ 052.4

Juan WANG, Xiuming LI, Weitao SHAO, Xu DING, Ying HUO, Lianchao FU, Yunyu BAI, Di LI. Numerical simulation of flow and mass transfer characteristics in porous plate bubbling column reactor[J]. CIESC Journal, 2024, 75(3): 801-814.

王娟, 李秀明, 邵炜涛, 丁续, 霍莹, 付连超, 白云宇, 李迪. 多孔板鼓泡塔流动与传质特性数值模拟[J]. 化工学报, 2024, 75(3): 801-814.

Figures/Tables 18

Fig.1 Calculation flow chart of gas-liquid mass transfer CFD-PBM coupling model

Fig.2 Three-dimensional structure and grid structure of bubbling columns reactor

Table 1 Model establishment data summary

Parameter	Value
D/mm	149
H/mm	1616
H₁/mm	160
H₂/mm	420
H₃/mm	680
H₄/mm	940
H₅/mm	1130
H₆/mm	8

Fig.3 Three-dimensional structure of bubbling column reactors with different numbers of porous plates installed

Fig.4 Average gas holdup of different sections under different number of grids

Fig.5 Comparison between simulated and experimental results of gas holdup at H/D=4 cross-section

Table 2 Physical parameters of oxygen and water

Object	Density/(kg/m³)	Viscosity/(Pa·s)
water	1000	0.00178
oxygen	1.492	0.000019

Fig.6 Distribution of gas holdup in longitudinal section of perforated plates bubbling column reactors with different numbers

Fig.7 Radial distribution of average gas holdup in porous plates bubbling column reactors with different numbers installed

Fig.8 Liquid phase flow lines in porous plates bubbling column reactors with different numbers installed

Fig.9 Bubble size distribution in four porous plates bubbling column reactors installed at different superficial gas velocities

Fig.10 Probability density distribution of bubble diameter in bubbling column reactors with different superficial gas velocities and different number of perforated plates

Fig.11 Probability radial distribution function of average bubble diameter in the bubbling column reactors with different number of perforated plates at the superficial gas velocity of 0.25 m/s

Fig.12 Probability density distribution of bubble size at different radial positions and superficial gas velocities

Fig.13 Distribution of bubble diameter in porous plates bubbling column reactors installed at different positions at ug=0.25 m/s

Fig.14 The gas-liquid interface area at the H/D=4 cross-section in the bubbling column reactor under different superficial gas velocities and installation of different numbers of porous plates

Fig.15 Radial distribution function of average gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient in bubbling column reactors with different superficial gas velocities and different number of perforated plates

Fig.16 Distribution of gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient with superficial gas velocity

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