No abstract

Many researchers have focused on multi-phase reactor development for improving mass transfer performance. However, solid particle addition in gas–liquid contactor for better oxygen mass transfer performance is still limited. Hence, this study aims to analyze the relative effect of different types of local solid media on the bubble hydrodynamic characteristics towards mass transfer enhancement in bubble columns (BCR) and airlift reactors (ALR). This was investigated by varying solid media types (ring, sphere, cylinder, and square), solid loadings (0%–15%), and superficial gas velocities (Vg) (2.6–15.3 × 10−3 m/s) in terms of the bubble hydrodynamic and oxygen mass transfer parameters. The result showed that bubble size distribution in BCR and ALR with additional plastic media was smaller than that without media addition, approximately 22%–27% and 5%–29%, respectively, due to the increase of the bubble breaking rate and the decrease of the bubble rising velocity (UB). Further, adding media in both reactors significantly decreased the UB value. Since media increased flow resistance, resulting in decreased liquid velocity, it can also be the moving bed to capture or block the bubbles from free rising. Therefore, oxygen mass transfer performance was investigated. The oxygen transfer coefficient (KLa) in BCR with solid media addition was enhanced up to 31%–56% compared to a non-addition case, while this enhancement was greater at higher solid loading due to its higher effective surface, resulting in a higher bubble break-up rate compared to the lower loading. In ALR, up to 38.5% enhanced KLa coefficient was archived after adding plastic media over the non-addition case. In conclusion, ring and cylinder media were found to be the most significant for improving KLa value in BCR and ALR, respectively, without extra energy.

In this paper, effects of physical configurations and operating conditions on bubble column performance were analyzed in terms of bubble hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters. Bubble column with 3 different dimensions and 7 gas diffusers (single / multiple orifice and rigid / flexible orifice) were applied. High speed camera and image analysis program were used for analyzing the bubble hydrodynamic parameters. The local liquid-side mass transfer coefficient (kL) was estimated from the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) and the interfacial area (a), which was deduced from the bubble diameter (DB) and the terminal bubble rising velocity (UB). The result showed that the values of kLa and a increased with the superficial gas velocity (Vg) and the size of bubble column. Influences of gas diffuser physical property (orifice size, thickness and orifice number) can be proven on the generated bubble size and the mass transfer performance in bubble column. Concerning the variation of kL coefficients with bubble size, 3 zones (Zone A, B and C) can be observed. For Zone A and Zone C, a good agreement between the experimental and the predicted KL coefficients was obtained (average difference of ± 15%), whereas the inaccuracy result (of ± 40%) was found in Zone B. To enhance the high kLa coefficient and absorption efficiency in bubble column, it was unnecessary to generate numerous fine bubbles at high superficial gas velocity since it causes high power consumption with the great decrease of kL coefficients.