Gas-Liquid Mass Transfer and Mixing Improvement Using Vibration Field
Advancing the chemical engineering fundamentals
Multifase Flows (T2-5P)
Keywords: vibration, mass transfer, liquid, bubble
The interaction between liquid and gaseous systems plays an important role for achieving improvement in various technological processes. Efficient transport of mass and energy as well as good mixing are necessary in many process operations.
In this research we investigated experimentally the effect of vibration parameters on the mass transfer efficiency. Bubble residence time in the liquid and bubble mean diameter were
chosen as main parameters characterizing the efficiency of gas-liquid mass transfer. Obviously, bubbles with longer residence time having more uniform distribution result in mass transfer efficiency improvement.
The bubble column with the plate oscillating in the vertical direction was used in the experimental study. Gas bubbles were injected into the bubble column near its bottom, or generated from the collapse of surface fountain.
The experiments show the strong positive effect of vibration field, on the gas transfer parameters as well as on the mixing efficiency. The bubble residence time and mean diameter can be controlled by changing such vibration parameters as frequency, amplitude, the signal form. Another way to control afore-mentioned parameters of gas transfer efficiency is to optimize the device parameters - depth of oscillating plate location, its thickness, the number of orifices in the plate and their diameter.
The proposed vibration-assisted device improves considerably the gas-liquid mass transfer and makes it possible to dissolve all the gas feed to the absorber. This fact allows to use this device for liquid saturation by relatively expansive gases, e.g. by ozone or carbon dioxide.
The simplicity of the design and the possibility of controlling the parameters, which insure proper mass transfer process, make the proposed method suitable for various applications in chemical and process industries.
Presented Tuesday 18, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Multifase Flows (T2-5P).
