Bubbling regime models

The performance of a fluidized bed combustor is strongly influenced by the fluid mechanics and heat transfer in the bed, consideration of which must be part of any attempt to realistically model bed performance. The fluid mechanics and heat transfer in an AFBC must, however, be distinguished from those in fluidized catalytic reactors such as fluidized catalytic crackers (FCCs) because the particle size in an AFBC, typically about 1 mm in diameter, is more than an order of magnitude larger than that utilized in FCC s, typically about 50 ym. The consequences of this difference in particle size is illustrated in Table 1. Particle Reynolds number in an FCC is much smaller than unity so that viscous forces dominate whereas for an AFBC the particle Reynolds number is of order unity and the effect of inertial forces become noticeable. Minimum velocity of fluidization (u ) in an FCC is so low that the bubble-rise velocity exceeds the gas velocity in the dense phase (umf/cmf) over a bed s depth the FCC s operate in the so-called fast bubble regime to be elaborated on later. By contrast- the bubble-rise velocity in an AFBC may be slower or faster than the gas-phase velocity in the emulsion... 

The application of the two bubble class model is important for reactions which are mass transfer controlled. The scale-up of a mass transfer controlled operation based on a fixed gas phase residence time assumes incorrect and higher actual gas velocities. Thus, when the flow regime changes from... 

The two bubble class model is applied here to the absorption of CO2 in NaOH, which conforms to a fast pseudo-first order reaction under certain operating conditions (15). In the data reported by Schumpe et al. ( 7 ), COo was absorbed during cocurrent flow in NaOH solution in a 0.102 m diameter bubble column. The gas phase consisted of approximately 10 vol % of CO2 in N2. The gas velocities ranged from 0.025 to 0.15 m/s. Since the churn turbulent regime prevailed for gas velocities greater than approximately 0.07 m/s, only the data in the range 0.07 m/s to 0.15 m/s were considered. 

Figure 1. Schematic of two-phase and three-phase representations for fluidized beds operating in the bubble regime B, bubble phase C, cloud phase D, dense phase E, emulsion phase Two-phase models, a and b three-phase models, c...

Bubble columns Loop reactors Stirred tanks Hydrocyclones Reasonable Reasonable Reasonable Reasonable Modeling of chum-turbulent flow regime Modeling of chum-turbulent flow regime Improved geometrical representation of impeller and baffles Improved geometrical representation of system... 

Three models based on different assumption - Bubbling regime - Turbulent regime - Fast fluidization considering the turbulent regime. 

Van der Laan [82] reported attempts to model FT in a bubble column reactor. His model exhibited well-mixed liquid and two gas bubble regimes small bubbles that were well mixed and large bubbles that showed plug flow behavior (Figure 12.21). Van der Laan [82] also provided a summary of bubble column reactor models that others have utilized (Tables 12.1 and 12.2). He concluded that the FT slurry bubble column reactor is reaction controlled due to the low activity of the iron catalyst and the... 

The bubbling regime has been studied more extensively than any other regime. A large number of models have been devised to describe catalytic reactors operating in the bubbling regime. A number of reviews of these models have appeared (e.g. 12-15). 

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