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Anand V. Kulkarni1
1
Institute of Chemical
Technology, University of
Mumbai, Matunga, Mumbai,
India.
1015
Research Article
Introduction
Various methods have been suggested in the literature for reducing non-uniformity:
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1016
A. V. Kulkarni
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Bubble column
1017
Figure 2. Normalized hole velocity profile along the sparger, before and after interconnection. (A) Sparger P1, (B) sparger P2, (C) sparger
P3, (D) sparger P4.
A single straight pipe and ring are the basic structures of complex spargers like multiple ring (Fig. 1B), spider (Fig. 1C), and
radial sparger (Fig. 1D). Hence, relationships obtained for various design parameters from experiments on a single pipe/ring
are useful for actual complex sparger geometries. The present
procedure for the design of a sparger requires column diameter, superficial gas velocity, operating temperature, and pressure of the reactor as input data. Objectives for the design are:
(i) no weep condition should be satisfied; (ii) minimum pressure drop across the sparger in order to reduce operating cost;
and (iii) minimum pressure variation within the sparger for
minimizing non-uniformity in gas distribution. The design parameters are: hole diameter (do), pitch, number of pipes, and
length and diameter of the pipe and header. The starting point
for the sparger design is the critical weep velocity. For bubble
column reactors, weeping is an undesired phenomena, hence it
is expected that the sparger should be operated above the critical weep velocity (VOC).
2
qG do VOC
2
r
(4)
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1018
A. V. Kulkarni
(5)
hq g i0:5 Dq5=8
G
2:32
r
qG
1:6
t
do
0:75
(8)
3.1
For NC =d2:5
1:5 107
o
For NC =d2:5
> 1:5 107
o
8
ReGL 1:14 10 21 N2:2
C do
0:17
q rd
1:2 107
ReGU 6:5 107 L 2 o
d1:5
For NC =d2:5
o
o
lL
1:2
14 qL rdo
1
2:5
> 1:2 107
ReGU 1:4 10
d1:5
o NC For NC =do
l2L
(7)
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Fr 0:37 140HL
Dx
do
(6)
criteria for the critical weep point velocity is given by the following equation:
Problem Statement
A bubble column is operating at a pressure of 1 MPa. The column diameter is 1.6 m and the height of dispersion is 8 m.
The operating temperature is 363 K and superficial gas velocity
is 0.1 m/s. The sparger has a common ring equipped with
straight pipe arms inserted into the column for gas sparging
(Fig. 1D). The gas phase is pure hydrogen. The sparger design
details were obtained for minimum pressure loss and no-weep
condition. The following assumptions were made: (i) The density of hydrogen was estimated at the pressure at the bottom of
the column and assumed to be constant within the sparger;
(ii) it was observed that the ring sparger provides uniform distribution [4], hence each sparging pipe is receiving equal flow;
(iii) the length of all the pipes was assumed to be 0.65 m in
order to have some clearance at the center; (iv) for any sparger
the distribution of free area is assumed to be uniform across
the column cross section.
3.2
1)
Design Procedure
The average gas hold-up in the bubble column reactor
was estimated using the following equation [12]:
eG 0:62VG0:52
2)
3)
(9)
2
Vocritical
d g q qG
Dx
0:37 140HL
1:25 o L
qG
do
1:6
t
do
0:75 !
(10)
4)
do2 N
5)
D2 VG
Vo
(11)
Bubble column
6)
Dx
L
d N
do o
7)
(12)
L = Np l
(13)
8)
DPp
0:1
DPo
(14)
(15)
where Ni = 1, 2...... Np/2
QH i NP 2Ni 1
1019
VHi
1
0
Ni
_ 0:5
m
4
N
P
A
@
2
qpdH
(16)
From the above equations individual head losses were estimated at each node.
11) Fig. 3 shows the pressure drop within the sparger with respect to the number of pipes for various values of dH and
dP. In Fig. 3, the configuration shown by line A is optimum in terms of pressure drop as well as the extent of
non-uniformity. Hence, the header diameter was selected
as 0.1 m, the pipe diameter as 0.025 m, and the number
of pipes can be set between 10 to 18, so that the pressure
drop within the sparger is minimum. Increasing the number of pipes has an additional advantage such that it
reduces the kinetic head at the entrance of each pipe.
However, the upper limit for the number of pipes is given
by the mechanical constraints.
Alternatively, the pressure losses within the ring were
obtained from the case shown by line A and line C
(dH = 0.1 m and dp = 0.025 m) by estimating the orifice
discharge coefficient for the ring sparger, where the hole
diameter is the diameter of the pipe and the number of
holes is the number of pipes. The ring diameter was assumed to be 2 m. The following correlation for the orifice
discharge coefficient for the ring was used:
Cring 0:135Re0:091 Eu
dp
dring
0:061
FAring
0:074
0:11
0:17
Dx
do
(17)
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1020
A. V. Kulkarni
3.3
Figure 3. Pressure drop characteristics within the header and pipe of a radial
sparger. Line A = dH 0.1 m, dp 0.025 m; line B = dH 0.165 m, dp 0.038 m; line
C = dH 0.12 m, dp 0.032 m; line D = dH 0.12 m, dp 0.025 m.
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0.1 m
Height of dispersion
8m
Operating pressure
1 MPa
Diameter of sparger
pipe
0.025 m
Operating temperature
363 K
Number of sparger
pipes (Np)
10
0.004 m
Radial
Pitch (Dx/do)
Number of holes (N)
2m
5
310
Velocity at sparger
inlet
17.78 m/s
Pressure at the
bottom
1.069 MPa
3.32 kPa
0.6 kPa
Pressure at entrance
of sparger
1.073 MPa
54.75 m/s
Non-uniformity in
sparging
10 %
Bubble column
1021
and = x/do 3;
Keys
and = x/do 4;
and = x/do 5;
and = x/do 6;
and = x/do 8;
Conclusion
and = x/do 7;
Acknowledgement
Financial support from BRNS in form
of a fellowship is highly acknowledged.
Symbols used
C
[]
Cring
[]
do
dH
dP
dring
D
Eu
FA
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[]
[]
FAring
[]
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1022
A. V. Kulkarni
VC
Vo1p1
[m3]
[m/s]
Weo
[]
Dx
[m]
chamber volume
hole velocity at the first hole of
the first pipe
Weber number at the critical
weep point
distance between any two holes,
pitch
Greek symbols
e
r
l
q
[]
[N/m]
[Pas]
[kg/m3]
hold-up
surface tension
fluid viscosity
fluid density
Subscripts
Fr
Fr
f
g
HL
k
L
l
m
N
NC
Np
Pout
DPo
[]
[]
[]
[m/s2]
[m]
[]
[m]
[m]
[kg/s]
[]
[]
[]
[Pa]
[Pa]
DPp
QP
QH
[Pa]
[m3/s]
[m3/s]
Re
ReGL
[]
[]
ReGU
[]
t
VG
VH
Vo
VO C
[m]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[m/s]
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Froude number
modified Froude number
friction factor
acceleration due to gravity
clear liquid height
momentum recovery factor
total length of pipe
length of a single pipe
mass flow rate
total number of holes
dimensionless chamber volume
number of pipes
pressure outside the sparger
pressure drop across the pipe
hole(s)
pressure drop along the pipe
volumetric flow rate in the pipe
volumetric flow rate in the
header
Reynolds number
lower limit of orifice Reynolds
number for weeping
upper limit of orifice Reynolds
number for weeping
thickness of pipe
superficial gas velocity
velocity in the header
hole velocity
critical weep velocity
L
G
P
a
w
liquid
gas
pipe
air
water
References
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889.
[2] W.-D. Deckwer, Bubble Column Reactors, John Wiley & Sons
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[6] H. W. Cooper, Chem. Eng. 1963, 28, 148.
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(3), 395.
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2001, 24, 815.
[12] J. B. Joshi et al., PINSA - A 1998, 64, 441.
[13] V. E. Senecal, Ind. Eng. Chem. 1957, 49 (6), 993.
[14] D. S. Miller, Internal Flow Systems: Design and Performance
Prediction, 2nd ed., Gulf Publishing Company, BHRA, Greenfield, UK 1990.