Hydrodynamics and mass transfer of an airlift reactor with inserted membrane

U okviru doktorske disertacije izvedena su eksperimentalna istraživanja osnovnih hidrodinamičkih i maseno-prenosnih karakteristika airlift reaktora sa spoljnom recirkulacijom sa ugrađenom višekanalnom cevnom membranom u silaznu cev (ALSRM). ALSRM je radio na dva načina rada: bez mehurova u silaznoj cevi (način rada A) i sa mehurovima u silaznoj cevi (način rada B) u zavisnosti od nivoa tečnosti u gasnom separatoru. Ispitivani su uticaji prividne brzine gasa, površinskih osobina tečne faze, tipa distributora gasa i prisustva mehurova gasa u silaznoj cevi na sadržaj gasa, brzinu tečnosti u silaznoj cevi i zapreminski koeficijent prenosa mase u tečnoj fazi u ALSRM. Rezultati su poređeni sa vrednostima dobijenim u istom reaktoru ali bez membrane (ALSR). Sadržaj gasa u uzlaznoj i silaznoj cevi određivan je pomoću piezometarskih cevi merenjem hidrostatičkog pritiska na dnu i vrhu uzlazne i silazne cevi. Brzina tečnosti merena je pomoću konduktometrijskih elektroda dok je zapreminski koeficijent prenosa mase dobijen primenom dinamičke metode merenjem promene koncentracije kiseonika u vremenu optičkom elektrodom. Eksperimentalni rezultati pokazuju da sadržaj gasa, brzina tečnosti i zapreminski koeficijent prenosa mase zavise od prividne brzine gasa, vrste alkohola i tipa distributora gasa kod oba reaktora. Višekanalna cevna membrana u silaznoj cevi uzrokovala je povećanje ukupnog koeficijenta trenja za 90% i time dovela do smanjenja brzine tečnosti u silaznoj cevi do 50%. Smanjena brzina tečnosti u silaznoj cevi povećala je sadržaj gasa do 16%. Predložene neuronske mreže i empirijske korelacije odlično predviđaju vrednosti za sadržaj gasa, brzinu tečnosti i zapreminski koeficijent prenosa mase.An objective of this study was to investigate the hydrodynamics and the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of an external-loop airlift membrane reactor (ELAMR). The ELAMR was operated in two modes: without (mode A), and with bubbles in the downcomer (mode B), depending on the liquid level in the gas separator. The influence of superficial gas velocity, gas distributor’s geometry and various diluted alcohol solutions on hydrodynamics and gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of the ELAMR was studied. Results are commented with respect to the external loop airlift reactor of the same geometry but without membrane in the downcomer (ELAR). The gas holdup values in the riser and the downcomer were obtained by measuring the pressures at the bottom and the top of the riser and downcomer using piezometric tubes. The liquid velocity in the downcomer was determined by the tracer response method by two conductivity probes in the downcomer. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient was obtained by using the dynamic oxygenation method by dissolved oxygen probe. According to experimental results gas holdup, liquid velocity and gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient depend on superficial gas velocity, type of alcohol solution and gas distributor for both reactors. Due to the presence of the multichannel membrane in the downcomer, the overall hydrodynamic resistance increased up to 90%, the liquid velocity in the downcomer decreased up to 50%, while the gas holdup in the riser of the ELAMR increased maximally by 16%. The values of the gas holdup, the liquid velocity and the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient predicted by the application of empirical power law correlations and feed forward back propagation neural network (ANN) are in very good agreement with experimental values

Numerical study of the hydrodynamics and mass transfer in the external loop airlift reactor

The objective of this study was to investigate the hydrodynamics and the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of an external-loop airlift reactor (ELAR). The ELAR was operated in three cases: different inlet velocities of fluids, different alcohols solutions (water, 0.5% methanol, 0.5% ethanol, 0.5% propanol and 0.5% butanol) and different concentration of methanol in solutions (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 5%). The influence of superficial gas velocity and various diluted alcohol solutions on hydrodynamics and the gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient of the ELAR was studied. Experimentally, the gas hold-up, liquid velocities and volumetric mass transfer coefficient values in the riser and the downcomer were obtained from the literature source. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed, based on two-phase flow, investigating different liquids regarding surface tension, assuming the ideal gas flow, applying the finite volume method and Eulerian-Eulerian model. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient was determined using the CFD and artificial neural network model. The effects of liquid parameters and gas velocity on the characteristics of the gas-liquid mass transfer were simulated. These models were compared with the appropriate experimental results. The CFD model successfully simulates the influence of different alcohols regarding the number of C-atoms on hydrodynamics and mass transfer

Matematičko modelovanje fenomena transporta Cs+ iz solidifikovane istrošene jonoizmenjivačke smole

The aim of the study was to assess Cs+ ions transport phenomena from solidified spent ion exchange resin by mathematical modeling. The experimental results comparison was obtained by Hespe's Standard Leaching Method. For the leaching prediction rate as a function of time, diffusion and semi-empirical models were used. Due to the presence of spent ion exchange resin, the cement matrix absorbed a larger amount of water, swelled, and degraded. This phenomenon caused a significantly lower value of mechanical resistance to pressure. Also, through the increase of bentonite and zeolite content, the cement matrix decreased its mechanical resistance. The retention of cesium ions in the cement matrix was low and they were leached during the early phase of the investigation. The diffusion coefficient, De, decreased by three orders of magnitude with the addition of zeolite and bentonite in the cement matrix. Linear regression of experimental Cs+ leaching results, under static conditions, displayed that the semi-empirical parameter K3 than the absolute values of the parameters K2 and K1. Therefore, the contribution of matrix dissolution to the total radionuclides transport was irrelevant to the prevailing share of diffusion and surface washing processes

Synthesis of Cyclo-bis-intercaland Receptor Molecules with Phenanthridinium Units

The cyclo-bis-intercaland type of receptor molecules based on phen- anthridinium units have been synthesized and their spectroscopic (NMR, electronic absorption and fluorescence) properties studied. X-ray structures of two macrocyclic bis-phenanthridine precursors of cyclo-bis-intercalands have been determined

Kinetic modelling of ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolics from cereal brans

peer-reviewedCereal brans are by‐products of the milling of cereal grains, which are mainly used as low value ingredients in animal feed. Wheat and oat bran is a rich source of bioactives and phytochemicals, especially phenolic compounds. Within this study, the application of ultrasound (US) technology to assist the extraction of phenolics from oat and wheat bran was investigated (20–45 kHz). Peleg’s mathematical model was used to study the kinetics of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and subsequent stirring of total phenolic compounds (TPC). The surface morphology of cereal brans after extraction was studied using SEM analysis. The excellent agreement was determined between the values of TPC calculated from Peleg’s mathematical model and actual experimental results. The constant that represents a time required for the initial phenolic concentration to be extracted to one-half of its initial value has been introduced (K1/2). It was shown that the TPC extraction kinetics was dependent only on K1/2 enabling fast kinetics fitting and comparison between extraction rates. Moreover, different values of K1/2 constant could indicate the differences in brans composition and consequently different influence of US pretreatment on these samples

Hydrodynamics of a self-agitated draft tube airlift reactor

The main hydrodynamic characteristics of a novel-constructed, self-agitated draft tube airlift reactor (DT-ALR) were investigated. Ten impellers, driven only by the means of gas throughput and induced liquid circulation, were inserted in the draft tube. The insertion of impellers caused bubble breakup and reduction of both mean bubble size and coalescence, even under the conditions of high gas throughputs. Although the impellers induced energy losses, the resistance to the flow was relatively lower due to their rotation, unlike the internals used in other research reported in the literature. In comparison to the conventional configuration of a DT-ALR, it was found that the presence of impellers led to significant changes in hydrodynamics: riser gas holdup and mixing time increased, while overall gas holdup and liquid velocity in the downcomer decreased. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172025