Viscosity phase velocity affected

At low holdups, longitudinal dispersion due to continuous-phase velocity profiles controls the amount of mixing in the countercurrent spray column whereas at higher holdups the velocity profile flattens, and the shed-wake mechanism controls. Above holdups of 0.24, the temperature jump ratio is linearly proportional to the dispersed-to-continuous-phase flow ratio, and all mixing is caused by shed wakes into the bulk water and coalescence of drops. As column size decreases, it approaches the characteristics of a perfect mixer, and the jump ratio approaches unity (as compared with the value of zero for true countercurrent flow). It is interesting to note that changing the inlet temperature of dispersed phase by about 55°F hardly affected the jump ratio, probably due to the balancing effects of reduced viscosities and a decrease of drop diameter. 

Carbonell and Guirardello (1997) performed simulations to establish the hydrodynamics (pressure drop, radial gas and slurry holdup distribution, effective eddy viscosity, and liquid-phase velocity profile). They also superimposed the thermal cracking reactions by accounting the radial variations in these transport properties so as to predict the heavy oil conversion. They found that the liquid recirculatory patterns (backmixing) strongly affect the product yields. However, the validation of the experimental was not carried out using these models. 

Many times solids are present in one or more phases of a solid-hquid system. They add a certain level of complexity in the process, especially if they tend to be a part of both phases, as they normally will do. Approximate methods need to be worked out to estimate the density of the emulsion and determine the overall velocity of the flow pattern so that proper evaluation of the suspension requirements can be made. In general, the solids will behave as though they were a fluid of a particular average density and viscosity and won t care much that there is a two-phase dispersion going on in the system. However, if solids are being dissolved or precipitated by participating in one phase and not the other, then they will be affected by which phase is dispersed or continuous, and the process will behave somewhat differently than if the solids migrate independently between the two phases within the process. 

Unlike at adiabatic conditions, the height of the liquid level in a heated capillary tube depends not only on cr, r, pl and 6, but also on the viscosities and thermal conductivities of the two phases, the wall heat flux and the heat loss at the inlet. The latter affects the rate of liquid evaporation and hydraulic resistance of the capillary tube. The process becomes much more complicated when the flow undergoes small perturbations triggering unsteady flow of both phases. The rising velocity, pressure and temperature fluctuations are the cause for oscillations of the position of the meniscus, its shape and, accordingly, the fluctuations of the capillary pressure. Under constant wall temperature, the velocity and temperature fluctuations promote oscillations of the wall heat flux. 

Figure 5.4 Effect of gas flow rate on (a) the SSP reaction rate of PET at temperatures of 190 and 220 °C, and (b) the rate of increase of the intrinsic viscosity of PET at various temperatures [13]. Reprinted from Polymer, 39, Huang, B. and Walsh, J. J., Solid-phase polymerization mechanism of polyethylene tereph-thalate) affected by gas flow velocity and particle size, 6991-6999, Copyright (1998), with permission from Elsevier Science...

The viscosity of the liquid phase is an important consideration. It is a known fact that the sedimentation velocity and the filtration rate vary inversely as the viscosity of the suspending liquid. Temperature, purity, and the amount of dissolved solids materially affect the viscosity value therefore, it is essential that direct measurement of viscosity be made on the solid-liquid system. 

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