Volumetric interfacial area

Interfacial area measurement. Knowledge of the interfacial area is indispensable in modeling two-phase flow (Dejesus and Kawaji, 1990), which determines the interphase transfer of mass, momentum, and energy in steady and transient flow. Ultrasonic techniques are used for such measurements. Since there is no direct relationship between the measurement of ultrasonic transmission and the volumetric interfacial area in bubbly flow, some estimate of the average bubble size is necessary to permit access to the volumetric interfacial area (Delhaye, 1986). In bubbly flows with bubbles several millimeters in diameter and with high void fractions, Stravs and von Stocker (1985) were apparently the first, in 1981, to propose the use of pulsed, 1- to 10-MHz ultrasound for measuring interfacial area. Independently, Amblard et al. (1983) used the same technique but at frequencies lower than 1 MHz. The volumetric interfacial area, T, is defined by (Delhaye, 1986)... 

Therefore, the mean droplet size and the volumetric interfacial area aL remain unaltered if the same power per unit volume (P/V) is used in the scale-up. 

V denotes the volume of the mass transfer zone in the extractor and a the interfacial area referred to the volume. The hold-up follows from (6.4-9). Avery complex task is the prediction of mean drop diameter as the correlatiorrs (6.4-5)-(6.4-8) presented before are not sufficiently reliable. Typically, the values of the volumetric interfacial area are in the range 200-500 m /m. ... 

Volumetric Mass-Transfer Coefficients and Kia Experimental determinations of the individual mass-transfer coefficients /cg and /cl and of the effective interfacial area a involve the use of extremely difficult techniques, and therefore such data are not plentiful. More often, column experimental data are reported in terms of overall volumetric coefficients, which normally are defined as follows ... 

Note that the product of the mass-transfer coefficient and the interfacial area is a volumetric coefficient and obviates the need for a value of the interfacial area. While areas for mass transfer on plates have been measured, the experimental contacting equipment cuffered significantly from that used for commercial distillation or gas absorption, and the reported areas are considered unreliable for design purposes. 

The mass-transfer coefficient of Eq. (14-139) is carried as a product with interfacial area (giving a volumetric mass transfer coefficient) ... 

Interfacial Area This consideration in agitated vessels has been reviewed and summarized by Tatterson (op. cit.). Predictive methods for interfacial area are not presented here because correlations are given for the overall volumetric mass transfer coefficient liquid phase controlhng mass transfer. 

Empirical Correlations of Volumetric Mass-Transfer Coefficient Ks and Specific Interfacial Area s ... 

A summary of a number of correlations proposed for volumetric mass-transfer coefficients and specific interfacial area is presented in Table II, which includes data additional to those of Westerterp et al. (W4). It is apparent that disagreement exists as to the numerical values for the exponents. This is due, in part, to the lack of geometric similarity in the equipment used. In addition, variation in operating factors such as the purity of the system (surfactants), kind of chemical system, temperature, etc., also contribute to the discrepancies. To summarize Table II ... 

In their analysis, however, they neglected the surface tension and the diffusivity. As has already been pointed out, the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient is a function of the interfacial area, which will be strongly affected by the surface tension. The mass-transfer coefficient per unit area will be a function of the diffusivity. The omission of these two important factors, surface tension and diffusivity, even though they were held constant in Pavlu-shenko s work, can result in changes in the values of the exponents in Eq. (48). For example, the omission of the surface tension would eliminate the Weber number, and the omission of the diffusivity eliminates the Schmidt number. Since these numbers include variables that already appear in Eq. (48), the groups in this equation that also contain these same variables could end up with different values for the exponents. 

The use of floating bubble breakers has been used to increase the volumetric mass transfer coefficient in a three-phase fluidized bed of glass beads (Kang et al., 1991) perhaps a similar strategy would prove effective for a bed of low density beads. Static mixers have been shown to increase kxa for otherwise constant process conditions by increasing the gas holdup and, therefore, the interfacial area (Potthoff and Bohnet, 1993). 

In many types of equipment used for gas—liquid reactions, the interfacial area available for mass transfer cannot be determined. The experimentally determined rates of mass transfer are therefore usually reported in terms of transfer coefficients based on unit volume of apparatus rather than on unit interfacial area. These volumetric coefficients are denoted by Kia, Kia, k fi and k[a where a is the interfacial area per unit volume of the equipment. 

In mass-transfer correlations, the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient is expressed using the gas-liquid interfacial area per unit volume of slurry (or expanded column or reactor, VR) (Koide, 1996 Kantarci el al., 2005 NTIS, 1983) ... 

The mass transfer coefficients considered so far - namely, kQ,kj, KQ,andKj - are defined with respect to known interfacial areas. However, the interfacial areas in equipment such as the packed column and bubble column are indefinite, and vary with operating conditions such as fluid velocities. It is for this reason that the volumetric coefficients defined with respect to the unit volume of the equipment are used, or more strictly, the unit packed volume in the packed column or the unit volume of liquid containing bubbles in the bubble column. Corresponding to /cg, Kq, and we define k a, k, a, K, /i, and K a, all of which have units of (kmol h m )/(kmol m ) - that is, (h ). Although the volumetric coefficients are often regarded as single coefficients, it is more reasonable to consider a separately from the Ar-terms, because the effective interfacial area per unit packed volume or unit volume of liquid-gas mixture a (m m ) varies not only with operating conditions such as fluid velocities but also with the types of operation, such as physical absorption, chemical absorption, and vaporization. 

With regards to handling data on industrial apparatus for gas-liquid mass transfer (such as packed columns, bubble columns, and stirred tanks), it is more practical to use volumetric mass transfer coefficients, such as KqU and K a, because the interfacial area a cannot be well defined and will vary with operating conditions. As noted in Section 6.7.2, the volumetric mass transfer coefficients for packed columns are defined with respect to the packed volume - that is, the sum of the volumes of gas, liquid, and packings. In contrast, volumetric mass transfer coefficients, which involve the specific gas-liquid interfacial area a (L L 5), for liquid-gas bubble systems (such as gassed stirred tanks and bubble columns) are defined with respect to the unit volume of gas-liquid mixture or of clear liquid volume, excluding the gas bubbles. In this book, we shall use a for the specific interfacial area with respect to the clear liquid volume, and a for the specific interfacial area with respect to the total volume of gas-liquid mixture. 

The correlations detailed in Sections 7.6.2.1-7.6.2.5 [17,18] are based on data for the turbulent regime with 4 bubble columns, up to 60 cm in diameter, and for 11 liquid-gas systems with varying physical properties. Unless otherwise stated, the gas holdup, interfacial area, and volumetric mass transfer coefficients in the correlations are defined per unit volume of aerated liquid, that is, for the liquid-gas mixture. 

The influence of pressure on the mass transfer in a countercurrent packed column has been scarcely investigated to date. The only systematic experimental work has been made by the Research Group of the INSA Lyon (F) with Professor M. Otterbein el al. These authors [8, 9] studied the influence of the total pressure (up to 15 bar) on the gas-liquid interfacial area, a, and on the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient in the liquid phase, kia, in a countercurrent packed column. The method of gas-liquid absorption with chemical reaction was applied with different chemical systems. The results showed the increase of the interfacial area with increasing pressure, at constant gas-and liquid velocities. The same trend was observed for the variation of the volumetric liquid mass-transfer coefficient. The effect of pressure on kia was probably due to the influence of pressure on the interfacial area, a. In fact, by observing the ratio, kia/a, it can be seen that the liquid-side mass-transfer coefficient, kL, is independent of pressure. 

In most types of mass-transfer equipment, the interfacial area, a, that is effective for mass transfer cannot be determined accurately. For this reason, it is customary to report experimentally observed rates of transfer in terms of mass-transfer coefficients based on a unit volume of the apparatus, rather than on a unit of interfacial area. Calculation of the overall coefficients from the individual volumetric coefficients is made practically, for example, by means of the equations ... 

Q Volumetric flow rate per unit wetted perimeter r Radial coordinate R Tube radius S Interfacial area... 

Kinetics of Aromatic Nitrations. The kinetics of aromatic nitrations are functions of temperature, which affects the kinetic rate constant, and of the compositions of both the acid and hydrocaibon phase. In addition, a larger interifacial area between the two phases increases the rates of nitration since the main reactions occur at or near the interface. Larger interfacial areas are oblaincd by increased agitation and by ihc proper choice of the volumetric % acid in the liquid-liquid dispersion. The viscosities and densities of the two phases and the interfacial tension between the phases are important physical properties affecting the interfacial area. 

In this chapter, we study various correlations for gas-liquid mass transfer, interfacial area, bubble size, gas hold-up, agitation power consumption, and volumetric mass-transfer coefficient, which are vital tools for the design and operation of fermenter systems. Criteria for the scale-up and shear sensitive mixing are also presented. First of all, let s review basic mass-transfer concepts important in understanding gas-liquid mass transfer in a fermentation system. 

Earlier studies in mass transfer between the gas-liquid phase reported the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient kLa. Since kLa is the combination of two experimental parameters, mass-transfer coefficient and mterfacial area, it is difficult to identify which parameter is responsible for the change of kLa when we change the operating condition of a fermenter. Calderbank and Moo-Young (1961) separated kta by measuring interfacial area and correlated mass-transfer coefficients in gas-liquid dispersions in mixing vessels, and sieve and sintered plate column, as follows ... 

The specific power dissipated by agitators in the liquid, eagit, was measured by a strain gauge mounted on the impeller shaft. The total specific power e dissipated in the liquid by the agitator and the rising bubbles was calculated as e = eagjt + pgvs. The volumetric mass transfer coefficient and interfacial area were measured by the Danckwerts plot method described in detail in Part I. 

For example, it is found that the mass transfer coefficient, Kca, for gas-liquid processes, is mostly a function of the linear superficial gas velocity and the power per unit volume with the constant D/T ratio for various size tanks. This is because the integrated volumetric mass transfer coefficient over the entire tank can be quite similar in large and small tanks even though the individual bubble size, interfacial area, and mass transfer coefficient can vary at specific points within the small and large tanks. 

This mass balance concerns the liquid phase, since oxygen must be dissolved in order to be used by the cells. Due to the difficulty in measuring the interfacial area (a), especially when oxygenation is carried out by bubble aeration, it is common to use the product of kL times a (kLa), known as the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient, as the relevant parameter. 

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