Axial liquid bulk concentration profile

Figure 10.9 Axial liquid bulk concentration profiles for the semibatch column (f = 10000s).

For the case with porous particles, the pore fluid can be treated as a mass transfer medium rather than a separate phase thus enabling it to be combined with the bulk fluid in the overall mass balance. Under plug flow transfer conditions, at the end of each time increment, the pore fluid was assumed to remain stagnant, and only the bulk fluid was transferred to the next section. Based on these assumptions and initial conditions, the concentrations of the polypeptide or protein adsorbate in both liquid and solid phase can be calculated. The liquid phase concentration in the last section C , is the outlet concentration. The concentration-time plot, i.e., the breakthrough curve, can then be constructed. Utilizing this approach, the axial concentration profiles can also be produced for any particular time since the concentrations in each section for each complete time cycle are also derived. 

Typically, there are two ways to inject tracers, steady tracer injection and unsteady tracer injection. It has been verified that both methods lead to the same results (Deckwer et al., 1974). For the steady injection method, a tracer is injected at the exit or some other convenient point, and the axial concentration profile is measured upward of the liquid bulk flow. The dispersion coefficients are then evaluated from this profile. With the unsteady injection method, a variable flow of tracer is injected, usually at the contactor inlet, and samples are normally taken at the exit. Electrolyte, dye, and heat are normally applied as the tracer for both methods, and each of them yields identical dispersion coefficients. Based on the assumptions that the velocities and holdups of individual phases are uniform in the radial and axial directions, and the axial and radial dispersion coefficients, E and E, are constant throughout the fluidized bed, the two-dimensional unsteady-state dispersion model is expressed by... 

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