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496 Multiphase Reactors: As With Reactions of Solids, We First Assume A Steady-State Concentration Profile of

This document discusses concentration profiles and reaction kinetics in multiphase reactors. It provides an example of calculating contaminant removal in a bubble column reactor where: (1) The contaminant concentration remains nearly constant throughout the reactor if the reaction goes to completion; (2) The required reactor length can be calculated from a mass balance equation assuming transport limits the rate; (3) Stirring, coalescence and breakup cause the bubble phase to approach continuous stirred tank reactor behavior.

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ZafirahAhmadFauzi
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30 views

496 Multiphase Reactors: As With Reactions of Solids, We First Assume A Steady-State Concentration Profile of

This document discusses concentration profiles and reaction kinetics in multiphase reactors. It provides an example of calculating contaminant removal in a bubble column reactor where: (1) The contaminant concentration remains nearly constant throughout the reactor if the reaction goes to completion; (2) The required reactor length can be calculated from a mass balance equation assuming transport limits the rate; (3) Stirring, coalescence and breakup cause the bubble phase to approach continuous stirred tank reactor behavior.

Uploaded by

ZafirahAhmadFauzi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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496 Multiphase Reactors

Figure 12-11 Sketches of concentration profiles of a reactant A around a drop where the reaction is in the surrounding continuous
phase. Arrows indicate directions of reactant mass flow.

As with reactions of solids, we first assume a steady-state concentration profile of


to
reactant and then calculate the variation of versus time as the reaction
proceeds.

Example 12-2 An aqueous solution contains 10 ppm by weight of an organic contaminant


molecular weight 120, which must be removed by air oxidation in a lo-cm-diameter
bubble column reactor at 25°C. The liquid flows downward in the tube at an average velocity
1 The air at 1 atm is admitted at 0.1 and is injected as bubbles 1 mm
diameter, which rise at 2 Assume no coalescence or breakup and that gas and
liquid are in plug flow. The reaction in the liquid phase has the stoichiometry A +
products with a rate
(a) What are the compositions when the reaction has gone to completion?

The volumetric flow rates are


= = 1x x 78.5
The feed concentrations are

8.33 x moles/cm3

3
= 8.58 x moles/cm

The molar feed rates are therefore

= = 6.5 x

2 = = 100 x 8 x =8x
This gives
0
= = 7.8 x
Bubble Column Reactors 497

This means that decreases by only -3% in the reactor if the reaction goes to
completion, so we can assume is constant throughout the reactor.

(b) Write the equation(s) that must be solved to find the length for a given organic removal.

Since the concentration remains constant, we do not need to solve a


balance equation in the gas phase, and and countercurrent flows should
give the same answer if velocities remain constant. The equation to be solved is
therefore

(c) Assuming that mass transfer of in the liquid around bubbles limits the rate,
calculate the reactor length required to reduce the contaminant to 1 ppm.

Since mass transfer in the liquid around the bubbles limits the rate, the
balance equation on A in the liquid phase becomes
A A
, dz
for flow over a sphere we assume = 2.0, SO that

k 2 x
= D =
The right-hand side of the differential equation is constant; so it can be integrated
to yield

We next need A/ V, the mass transfer area per unit volume of the reactor. The
residence time of a bubble is The volume of each bubble is and the
surface area of a bubble is The volumetric flow rate of gas is

Therefore, the surface area of bubbles per unit volume of liquid in the reactor is
A
38.2
V =
Substituting, we obtain
8.33 x x 0.9 x 1
L = 177 cm = 1.77 m
x 38.2 x 2 x x 1.11 x

(d) Estimate the reactor length required to reduce the organic concentration to 1 ppm if the
concentration of remains at equilibrium in the solution.

If the remains in equilibrium, the equation to be solved is


498 Multiphase Reactors

Since is constant, the differential equation can be integrated to yield


10
= 207 cm = 2.07 m
x 1.11 x

Mixing in drop or bubble phases


If an isolated drop or bubble rises or falls in the reactor, then the flow pattern in this phase
is clearly unmixed, and this phase should be described as a PFTR. However, drops and
bubbles may not have simple trajectories because of stirring in the reactor, and also drops
and bubbles can coalesce and breakup as they move through the reactor.
These possible flow patterns of a drop or bubble phase are shown in Figure 12-12. At
the left is shown an isolated bubble which rises (turn the drawing over for a falling drop),
a clearly unmixed situation. If the bubble is in a continuous phase which is being stirred,
then the bubble will swirl around the reactor, and its residence time will not be fixed but
will be a distributed function. In the limit of very rapid stirring, the residence time of drops
or bubbles will have a residence time distribution

p(t)
which is the residence time distribution in a CSTR. We derived this expression in Chapter 8
where we considered the distribution of residence times of molecules in the reactor, but
now we consider the residence time of isolated bubbles or drops. If bubbles flow generally
upward, but continuously break up and coalesce, the residence time distribution of the
species in this pase is narrow or roughly that of a

However with stirring and coalescence and breakup, both effects tend to mix the
contents of the bubbles or drops, and this situation should be handled using the CSTR mass
balance equation. As you might expect, for a real drop or bubble reactor the residence time
distribution might not be given accurately by either of these limits, and it might be necessary
to measure the RDT to correctly describe the flow pattern in the discontinuous phase.

Figure 12-12 Sketches of possible flow pat-


terns of bubbles rising through a liquid phase
in a bubble column. Stirring of the continuous
phase will cause the residence time distribution
to be broadened, and coalescence and breakup
of drops will cause mixing between bubbles.
Both of these effects cause the residence time
distribution in the bubble phase to approach that
of a CSTR. For falling drops in a spray tower,
the situation is similar but now the drops fall
instead of rising in the reactor.

unmixed unmixed mixed unmixed mixed

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