Bubble-flow pressure drop

In the presence of air bubbles, the pressure drop and flow rate undergo variations, depending on the tubing materials used for building up the manifold ... 

The Larkins and Sweeney equations were developed for downward bubble flow. In trickle bed operation, the liquid and gas flow rate are not as high as in packed absorbers, so that there is much less interaction. Single-phase flow pressure drop equations could be used as a first approximation, with the void fraction reduced to... 

If, however, the reservoir pressure drops below the bubble point, then gas will be liberated in the reservoir. This liberated gas may flow either towards the producing wells under the hydrodynamic force imposed by the lower pressure at the well, or it may migrate... 

In the solution gas drive case, once production starts the reservoir pressure drops very quickly, especially above the bubble point, since the compressibility of the system is low. Consequently, the producing wells rapidly lose the potential to flow to surface, and not only is the plateau period short, but the decline is rapid. 

Cavitation Loosely regarded as related to water hammer and hydrauhc transients because it may cause similar vibration and equipment damage, cavitation is the phenomenon of collapse of vapor bubbles in flowing liquid. These bubbles may be formed anywhere the local liquid pressure drops below the vapor pressure, or they may be injected into the hquid, as when steam is sparged into water. Local low-pressure zones may be produced by local velocity increases (in accordance with the Bernouhi equation see the preceding Conservation Equations subsection) as in eddies or vortices, or near bound-aiy contours by rapid vibration of a boundaiy by separation of liquid during water hammer or by an overaU reduction in static pressure, as due to pressure drop in the suction line of a pump. 

Bubble-Tube Systems The commonly used bubble-tube system sharply reduces restrictions on the location of the measuring element. In order to ehminate or reduce variations in pressure drop due to the gas flow rate, a constant differential regulator is commonly employed to maintain a constant gas flow rate. Since the flow of gas through the bubble tube prevents entiy of the process liquid into the measuring system, this technique is particularly usefiil with corrosive or viscous liquids, liquids subjec t to freezing, and hquids containing entrained solids. 

The precision rotameter is a secondary calibration device. If it is to be used in place of a primary device such as a bubble meter, care must be taken to ensure that any introduced error will be minimal and noted. The precision rotameter may be used for calibrating the personal sampling pump in lieu of a bubble meter provided it is (a) Calibrated with an electronic bubble meter or a bubble meter, (b) Disassembled, cleaned as necessary, and recalibrated. It should be used with care to avoid dirt and dust contamination which may affect the flow, (c) Not used at substantially different temperature and/or pressure from those conditions present when the rotameter was calibrated against the primary source, (d) Used such that pressure drop across it is minimal. If altitude or temperature at the sampling site are substantially different from the calibration site, it is necessary to calibrate the precision rotameter at the sampling site where the same conditions are present. 

A common type of distillation contacting device used in refinery applications is the sieve tray. In the early 50 s and for many years before, the bubble cap tray was the mainstay of the distillation field. A sieve tray consists of a flat plate with regularly spaced holes, normally 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. Liquid flows horizontally across the tray and into a channel, called a downcomer, which leads to the tray below. The sieve tray exhibits good capacity, excellent efficiency, low pressure drop, and good flexibility i.e., it will operate quite efficiently at tower loadings which are 1/2 to 1/3 of design values. 

The exit region of a die used to blow plastic film is shown below. If the extruder output is 100 X 10 m /s of polythene at 170°C estimate the total pressure drop in the die between points A and C. Also calculate the dimensions of the plastic bubble produced. It may be assumed that there is no inflation or draw-down of the bubble. Flow data for polythene is given in Fig. 5.3. 

In a packed column, liquid and vapor flow counter-currently and separation between the liquid and vapor phases takes place continuously. In contrast, in a column with trays, separation occurs in stages. In a packed column, vapor does not bubble through the liquid as in the columns with trays. For this reason, and due to the absence of the vapor-flow orifices, packed columns operate at a much lower pressure drop. In addition, because liquid and vapor contact in a packed column is less agitated than in a trayed column, packed columns are less likely to foam. 

It is concluded that gas bubble-columns exhibit mass-transfer rates of the same order of magnitude as packed columns at low liquid flow rates, and much higher mass-transfer rates at high liquid flow rates. The pressure drop across a bubble-column is much greater than that across packed columns of the same height. 

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