Flow Regime Transitions in an Internal-Loop Airlift Reactor

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1077-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-C. Fu ◽  
L.-S. Fan ◽  
W.-T. Wu
2006 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Juraščík ◽  
M. Hucík ◽  
I. Sikula ◽  
J. Annus ◽  
J. Markoš

AbstractThe effect of the biomass presence on the overall circulation velocity, the linear velocities both in the riser and the downcomer and the overall gas hold-up was studied in a three-phase internal loop airlift reactor (ILALR). The measured data were compared with those obtained using a two-phase system (air—water). All experiments were carried out in a 40 dm3 ILALR at six different biomass concentrations (ranging from 0 g dm−3 to 7.5 g dm−3), at a temperature of 30°C, under atmospheric pressure. Air and water were used as the gas and liquid model media, respectively. Pellets of Aspergillus niger produced during the fermentation of glucose to gluconic acid in the ILALR were considered solid phase. In addition, liquid velocities were measured during the fermentation of glucose to gluconic acid using Aspergillus niger. All measurements were performed in a bubble circulation regime. At given experimental conditions the effect of the biomass on the circulation velocities in the ILALR was negligible. However, increasing of the biomass concentration led to lower values of the total gas hold-up.


Author(s):  
Matt Zimmer ◽  
Igor A Bolotnov

Abstract New criteria for fully resolving two-phase flow regime transitions using direct numerical simulation with the level set method for interface capturing are proposed. A series of flows chosen to capture small scale interface phenomena are simulated at different grid refinements. These cases include droplet deformation and breakup in a simple shear field, the thin film around a Taylor bubble, and the rise of a bubble towards a free surface. These cases cover the major small scale phenomena observed in two-phase flows: internal recirculation, interface curvature, interface snapping, flow of liquid in thin films, and drainage/snapping of thin films. The results from these simulations and their associated grid studies were used to develop new meshing requirements for simulation of two-phase flow using interface capturing methods, in particular the level set method. When applicable, the code used in this work, PHASTA, was compared to experiments in order to contribute to the ongoing validation process of the code. Results show that when the solver meets these criteria, with the exception of resolving the nanometer scale liquid film between coalescing bubbles, the code is capable of accurately simulating interface topology changes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document