Absorption interphase mass transfer

In 1976 he was appointed to Associate Professor for Technical Chemistry at the University Hannover. His research group experimentally investigated the interrelation of adsorption, transfer processes and chemical reaction in bubble columns by means of various model reactions a) the formation of tertiary-butanol from isobutene in the presence of sulphuric acid as a catalyst b) the absorption and interphase mass transfer of CO2 in the presence and absence of the enzyme carboanhydrase c) chlorination of toluene d) Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Based on these data, the processes were mathematically modelled Fluid dynamic properties in Fischer-Tropsch Slurry Reactors were evaluated and mass transfer limitation of the process was proved. In addition, the solubiHties of oxygen and CO2 in various aqueous solutions and those of chlorine in benzene and toluene were determined. Within the framework of development of a process for reconditioning of nuclear fuel wastes the kinetics of the denitration of efQuents with formic acid was investigated. 

The reported study on gas-liquid interphase mass transfer for upward cocurrent gas-liquid flow is fairly extensive. Mashelkar and Sharma19 examined the gas-liquid mass-transfer coefficient (both gas side and liquid side) and effective interfacial area for cocurrent upflow through 6.6-, 10-, and 20-cm columns packed with a variety of packings. The absorption of carbon dioxide in a variety of electrolytic and ronelectrolytic solutions was measured. The results showed that the introduction of gas at high nozzle velocities (>20,000 cm s ) resulted in a substantial increase in the overall mass-transfer coefficient. Packed bubble-columns gave some improvement in the mass-transfer characteristics over those in an unpacked bubble-column, particularly at lower superficial gas velocities. The value of the effective interfacial area decreased very significantly when there was a substantial decrease in the superficial gas velocity as the gas traversed the column. The volumetric gas-liquid mass-transfer coefficient increased with the superficial gas velocity. 

Separation operations are interphase mass transfer processes because they involve the creation, by the addition of heat as in distillation or of a mass separation agent as in absorption or extraction, of a second phase, and the subsequent selective separation of chemical components in what was originally a one-phase mixture by mass transfer to the newly created phase. The thermodynamic basis for the design of equilibrium staged equipment such as distillation and extraction columns are introduced in this chapter. Various flow arrangements for multiphase, staged contactors are considered. 

Introduction to interphase mass transfer. In Chapter 7 we considered mass transfer from a fluid phase to another phase, which was primarily a solid phase. The solute A was usually transferred from the fluid phase by convective mass transfer and through the solid by diffusion. In the present section we shall be concerned with the mass transfer of solute A from one fluid phase by convection and then through a second fluid phase by convection. For example, the solute may diffuse through a gas phase and then diffuse through and be absorbed in an adjacent and immiscible liquid phase. This occurs in the case of absorption of ammonia from air by water. 

Models of BCR can be developed on the basis of various view points. The mathematical structure of the model equations is mainly determined by the residence time distribution of the phases, the reaction kinetics, the number of reactive species involved in the process, and the absorption-reaction regime (slow or fast reaction in comparison to mass transfer rate). One can anticipate that the gas phase as well as the liquid phase can be either completely backmixed (CSTR), partially mixed, as described by the axial dispersion model (ADM), or unmixed (PFR). Thus, it is possible to construct a model matrix as shown in Fig. 3. This matrix refers only to the gaseous key reactant (A) which is subjected to interphase mass transfer and undergoes chemical reaction in the liquid phase. The mass balances of the gaseous reactant A are the starting point of the model development. By solving the mass balances for A alone, it is often possible to calculate conversions and space-time-yields of the other reactive species which are only present in the liquid phase. Heat effects can be estimated, as well. It is, however, assumed that the temperature is constant throughout the reactor volume. Hence, isothermal models can be applied. 

The operations considered in this chapter are concerned with the interphase transfer of mass and energy which result when a gas is brought into contact with a pure liquid in which it is essentially insoluble. The matter transferred between phases in such cases is the substance constituting the liquid phase, which either vaporizes or condenses. These operations are somewhat simpler—from the point of view of mass transfer—than absorption and stripping, for when the liquid contains only one component, there are no concentration gradients and no resistance to mass transfer in the liquid phase. On the other hand, both heat transfer and gas-phase mass transfer are important and must be considered simultaneously since they influence each other. 

Interphase operation Transfer of mass from one phase to another in distillation and absorption operations is an interphase operation. 

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