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Bubble Column Reactors

Bubble column reactors have a structured catalytic packing consisting of catalyst particles enclosed in wire gauze wraps mounted along the height of the column. Gas is dispersed into the liquid phase and flows through open passages between wraps. They have advantages over trickle beds like lower pressure drop and excellent radial dispersion. Bubble column reactors are widely used in chemical, petrochemical and biochemical industries for processes like absorption, oxidation and hydrogenation. Modeling considers degree of mixing from perfect to no mixing and factors like flow regime, bubble size and mass transfer.

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6K views

Bubble Column Reactors

Bubble column reactors have a structured catalytic packing consisting of catalyst particles enclosed in wire gauze wraps mounted along the height of the column. Gas is dispersed into the liquid phase and flows through open passages between wraps. They have advantages over trickle beds like lower pressure drop and excellent radial dispersion. Bubble column reactors are widely used in chemical, petrochemical and biochemical industries for processes like absorption, oxidation and hydrogenation. Modeling considers degree of mixing from perfect to no mixing and factors like flow regime, bubble size and mass transfer.

Uploaded by

lakshmivarthan
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Bubble column reactors

Basic set up

• Structured catalytic bubble columns are new, very


promising types of multiphase reactors.
• Their configuration lies basically between slurry reactors
and trickle bed reactors.
• The solid phase, consisting of catalyst particles, is
enclosed in fixed wire gauze wraps, which are mounted
along the height of the column.
• The gas phase is dispersed into the liquid phase and it
flows in the empty passages between adjacent
envelopes.
• The liquid phase may be operated in a batch manner or
it may also circulate in co-current or counter-current
manner to the gas flow.
The main advantages
• no problems for separating catalyst from
the liquid;
• improved conversion and selectivity due to
staging of the liquid phase;
• no scale up problems because the
hydrodynamics is dictated by the size of
the open channels of the catalytic
structure.
The main advantages over trickle
beds

• lower pressure-drop even with 1 mm size


particles;
• excellent radial dispersion
• possibility of counter-current operation
without flooding.
USES
• Bubble column reactors are widely used as gas-
liquid and gas-liquid-solid contactors in many
chemical, petrochemical and biochemical
industries, such as absorption, oxidation,
hydrogenation, catalytic slurry reaction, coal
liquefaction, aerobic fermentation.
• The operation of these reactors is preferred
because of their simple construction, ease of
maintenance and low operating costs.
Characteristic structured parameters DT = 0.1 m DT = 0.24 m

Number of packing sections used in the column, N/ [-] 9 6

Length of one packed element / [m] 0.2 0.288

Diameter of one packed element / [m] 0.0935 0.24

Hydraulic diameter of the open channels, dh / [m] 0.007 0.020

Inclination of corrugated sheets from vertical 45o 45o

Solids hold up in the structured packed section, epsS / [-] 0.205 0.198

Void fraction within "packed channels" / [-] 0.454 0.505

Volume fraction of "packed channels" in the reactor, epsPC / [-] 0.375 0.400

Specific surface for the gas flow (assuming the space between the glass spheres is 354.4 122.3
completely filled with liquid), As / [m-1 ]

Entrance length, He / [m] 0.07 0.15

Height of the structured packed section, Hp / [m] 1.8 1.68

Dispersion height, Hd / [m] 1.68 1.60

Height between the pressure taps in the bubble column section, dH / [m] 0.9 1.21

Distributor hole diameter, d0 / [m] 0.0005 0.0005

Number of distributor holes 253 1457


Modelling of bubble column
reactors
• Modelling is classified according to the
degree of mixing
• Perfect mixing CSTR
• Partial mixing
• No mixing PFR
Mixing

• The mixing in the liquid phase is more


intense than with the gas phase due to the
turbulent motion induced by the gas
bubbles.
•
Design parameters
• Gas-liquid specific interfacial area, a.
• Individual mass transfer coefficient kla
• Flow regime
• Bubble size distribution
• Coalescence of bubbles
• the volumetric
• mass transfer coefficient, kLa, which depends fundamentally on
the superficial gas velocity and on the physical properties of the
absorption phase.
• For fluids in motion the total pressure (also named impact pressure)
exercised in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement is given by
the sum of static pressure and dynamic pressure.
• According to Bernoulli’s law, for a single steady state incompressible flow, the
measured pressure difference is equal to:
• ΔP = ½ ρLu2.
• he instantaneous fluid velocity is given by the difference between the two
local instantaneous velocities at the two holes:
• ΔP = ½ ρL (uax 2 - uh 2 )
• In turbulent flow, the velocity in one point of the fluid changes in magnitude
and direction, oscillating around a mean value.
• the axial velocity component is given by the sum of the steady flow,
um and the fluctuating component u’
• Uax = Um +u’
• The horizontal velocity component can also be split up in two
components, the mean and the fluctuating terms:
• Uax = Uhm +u’’
1- the head hole facing upwards
2 – hole facing downwards
The mean axial velocity measured in one
position in the bubble column becomes:
• The measured liquid velocity is :
• http://ct-
cr4.chem.uva.nl/bc/lit_radi.html\\

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