Gas phase, residence time distribution

No data on gas-phase residence-time distribution appear to have been published. 

For reactions of order 1, the required reactor volume is greater for a backmixed reactor than for a plug flow one, e.g. by a factor of 191 for 90% conversion and 21.5 for 99% conversion, for a first order reaction. This is also true for gas-liquid mass transfer controlled systems, where in the main it is the gas phase residence time distribution which affects the driving force and hence reactor size for a given throughput. 

J.M. Commenge, T. Obein, G. Genin, X. Framboisier, S. Rode, V. Schanen, R. Pitiot M. Madosz, Gas-phase residence time distribution in a falling-film microreactor, Chem. Eng. Sci., 2006, 61, 597-604. 

In many mass transfer operations the effect of gas phase residence time distribution is neglected. In fermentations and in wastewater aeration systems, a 15% consumption of the oxygen from the inlet air is on the high side. This translates to going from 21% oxygen to 18% at the outlet. If the air is backmixed, the gas phase composition in equilibrium with the liquid would be based on 18% oxygen. If a simple plug flow assumption is made instead, the composition only rises to 19.5%. This is a minor effect. 

As mentioned in Section 11.3, fluidized-bed reactors are difficult to scale. One approach is to build a cold-flow model of the process. This is a unit in which the solids are fluidized to simulate the proposed plant, but at ambient temperature and with plain air as the fluidizing gas. The objective is to determine the gas and solid flow patterns. Experiments using both adsorbed and nonadsorbed tracers can be used in this determination. The nonadsorbed tracer determines the gas-phase residence time using the methods of Chapter 15. The adsorbed tracer also measures time spent on the solid surface, from which the contact time distribution can be estimated. See Section 15.4.2. 

The number of gas-phase transfer units that exist in a given column design depends on a number of factors, including 1) slurry spray rate 2) droplet size and distribution 3) gas-phase residence time, which is controlled by the height of the spray zone 4) liquid... 

Multiple impeller systems are able to distribute energy throughout the reactor more efficiently, which leads to a more homogeneous shear rate distribution. Liquid circulation and gas dispersion are also improved, leading to longer gas-phase residence times. These factors lead to better gas utilization, higher gas-liquid mass transfer coefficients (Bouaifi and Roustan, 2001 Cabaret et al., 2008 Fujasova... 

Glaser and Litt (G4) have proposed, in an extension of the above study, a model for gas-liquid flow through a b d of porous particles. The bed is assumed to consist of two basic structures which influence the fluid flow patterns (1) Void channels external to the packing, with which are associated dead-ended pockets that can hold stagnant pools of liquid and (2) pore channels and pockets, i.e., continuous and dead-ended pockets in the interior of the particles. On this basis, a theoretical model of liquid-phase dispersion in mixed-phase flow is developed. The model uses three bed parameters for the description of axial dispersion (1) Dispersion due to the mixing of streams from various channels of different residence times (2) dispersion from axial diffusion in the void channels and (3) dispersion from diffusion into the pores. The model is not applicable to turbulent flow nor to such low flow rates that molecular diffusion is comparable to Taylor diffusion. The latter region is unlikely to be of practical interest. The model predicts that the reciprocal Peclet number should be directly proportional to nominal liquid velocity, a prediction that has been confirmed by a few determinations of residence-time distribution for a wax desulfurization pilot reactor of 1-in. diameter packed with 10-14 mesh particles. 

In the design of optimal catalytic gas-Hquid reactors, hydrodynamics deserves special attention. Different flow regimes have been observed in co- and countercurrent operation. Segmented flow (often referred to as Taylor flow) with the gas bubbles having a diameter close to the tube diameter appeared to be the most advantageous as far as mass transfer and residence time distribution (RTD) is concerned. Many reviews on three-phase monolithic processes have been pubhshed [37-40]. 

Recycling to monomers, fuel oils or other valuable chemicals from the waste polymers has been attractive and sometimes the system has been commercially operated [1-4]. It has been understood that, in the thermal decomposition of polymers, the residence time distribution (RTD) of the vapor phase in the reactor has been one of the major factors in determining the products distribution and yield, since the products are usually generated as a vapor phase at a high temperature. The RTD of the vapor phase becomes more important in fluidized bed reactors where the residence time of the vapor phase is usually very short. The residence time of the vapor or gas phase has been controlled by generating a swirling flow motion in the reactor [5-8]. 

An investigation into the applicability of numerical residence time distribution was carried out on a pilot-scale annular bubble column reactor. Validation of the results was determined experimentally with a good degree of correlation. The liquid phase showed to be heavily dependent on the liquid flow, as expected, but also with the direction of travel. Significantly larger man residence times were observed in the cocurrent flow mode, with the counter-current mode exhibiting more chaimeling within the system, which appears to be contributed to by the gas phase. 

One of the most far reaching analyzes along these lines of thought was given by Commenge [114] in the context of gas-phase reactions in continuous-flow processes. Specifically, he analyzed four different aspects of micro reaction devices, namely the expenditure in mechanical energy, the residence-time distribution, safety in operation, and the potential for size reduction when the efficiency is kept fixed. 

Chemical Kinetics, Tank and Tubular Reactor Fundamentals, Residence Time Distributions, Multiphase Reaction Systems, Basic Reactor Types, Batch Reactor Dynamics, Semi-batch Reactors, Control and Stability of Nonisotheimal Reactors. Complex Reactions with Feeding Strategies, Liquid Phase Tubular Reactors, Gas Phase Tubular Reactors, Axial Dispersion, Unsteady State Tubular Reactor Models... 

The following equations are written for absorption (of any gas) in a continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CFSTR) under the assumption that the gas and liquid phases are ideally mixed (Figure B 1-2). The assumption of an ideally mixed phase can be checked by determining the residence time distribution in the reactor (e. g. Levenspiel, 1972 Lin and Peng, 1997 Huang et al., 1998). 

In the development of these processes and their transference into an industrial-scale, dimensional analysis and scale-up based on it play only a subordinate role. This is reasonable, because one is often forced to perform experiments in a demonstration plant which copes in its scope with a small produdion plant ( mock-up plant, ca. 1/10-th of the industrial scale). Experiments in such plants are costly and often time-consuming, but they are often indispensable for the lay-out of a technical plant. This is because the experiments performed in them deliver a valuable information about the scale-dependent hydrodynamic behavior (arculation of liquids and of dispersed solids, residence time distributions). As model substances hydrocarbons as the liquid phase and nitrogen or air as the gas phase are used. The operation conditions are ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure ( cold-flow model ). As a rule, the experiments are evaluated according to dimensional analysis. 

Generally, this implies the use of ideal reactors of the plug flow or well stirred tank type with well defined residence times and residence time distributions under isothermal conditions (with some exceptions, as will be indicated). By-passing part of the catalyst by channeling in a packed bed or uneven flow distributions must be avoided. In three-phase systems (gas/liquid/solid), the even distribution of both fluid phases over the catalyst is crucial. 

The rate of absorption is independent of the concentration of component A as well as the residence-time distribution in the gas phase. In practice, the use of Eq. (9.17) is valid when E, > 4. Some suitable chemical systems for the determination of kLaL in the instantaneous reaction regime are presented in part B of Table XXXI. 

Determinations of Peclet number were carried out by comparison between experimental residence time distribution curves and the plug flow model with axial dispersion. Hold-up and axial dispersion coefficient, for the gas and liquid phases are then obtained as a function of pressure. In the range from 0.1-1.3 MPa, the obtained results show that the hydrodynamic behaviour of the liquid phase is independant of pressure. The influence of pressure on the axial dispersion coefficient in the gas phase is demonstrated for a constant gas flow velocity maintained at 0.037 m s. 

The residence-time distribution in the liquid phase of a cocurrent-upflow fixed-bed column was measured at two different flow rates. The column diameter was 5.1 cm and the packing diameter was 0.38 cm. The bed void fraction was 0.354 and the mass flow rate was 50.4 g s l. The RTD data at two axial positions (which were 91 cm apart in Run 1 and 152 cm apart in Run 2) are summarized in Table 3-2. Using the method of moments, estimate the mean residence time and the Peclet number for these two runs. If one assumes that the backmixing characteristics are independent of the distance between two measuring points, what is the effect of gas flow rate on the mean residence time of liquid and the Peclet number Hovv does the measured and the predicted RTD at the downstream positions compare in both cases ... 

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