Axial Dispersion or Dispersed Plug Flow DPF Model

2 Axial Dispersion or Dispersed Plug Flow (DPF) Model 

the transport of material through a vessel is by convective or bulk flow. All elements of fluid, at a particular axial position in the direction of flow, have the same concentration and axial velocity (no radial variation). We can imagine this ideal flow being blurred or dispersed by backmixing of material as a result of local disturbances (eddies, vortices, etc.). This can be treated as a diffusive flow superimposed on the convective flow. If the disturbances are essentially axial in direction and not radial, we refer to this as axial dispersion, and the flow as dispersed plug flow (DPF). (Radial dispersion may also be significant, but we consider only axial dispersion here.) 

In considering axial dispersion as a diffusive flow, we assume that Fick s first law applies, with the diffusion or effective diffusion coefficient (equation 8.5-4) replaced by an axial dispersion coefficient, D,. Thus, for unsteady-state behavior with respect to a species A (e.g., a tracer), the molar flux (NA) of A at an axial position x is 

This diffusive flow must be taken into account in the derivation of the material-balance or continuity equation in terms of A. The result is the axial dispersion or dispersed plug flow (DPF) model for nonideal flow. It is a single-parameter model, the parameter being DL or its equivalent as a dimensionless parameter. It was originally developed to describe relatively small departures from PF in pipes and packed beds, that is, for relatively small amounts of backmixing, but, in principle, can be used for any degree of backmixing. 

Consider a material balance for A around the differential control volume shown in 

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In this section, we develop two simple models, each of which has one adjustable parameter the tanks-in-series (TIS) model and the axial-dispersion or dispersed-plug-flow (DPF) model. We focus on the description of flow in terms of RTD functions and related quantities. In principle, each of the two models is capable of representing flow in a single vessel between the two extremes of BMF and PF. 

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