The performance of airlift pump for the solid particles lifting during the transportation of gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow: A comprehensive research review

Abstract

Research about the enhancement of the airlift pump performance by changing the geometry and operational parameters has drawn considerable attention in recent years. This paper presents a comprehensive review of some published research articles on the enhancement performance of the airlift pump and the future direction of the research. In the introductory section, the description, the application, and the performance of the airlift pump are described. The influencing parameters of the airlift pump performance are classified in the geometry and operational. The geometry parameters are including submergence ratio, pipe diameter, pipe length, design, and position of the injector. The operational parameters are including the testing fluid, diameter and density particles, and the superficial velocity of injected air. All of the involved parameters are detail explained in the experimental study section. The detailed derivation of equations of the airlift pump performance and also the modified equation was shown in the theoretical study section. The numerical study of airlift pump operating on two and three phases was also discussed. In the last section, the future directions of the airlift pump are noted, and some conclusions were summarized. It was found that only limited literature about flow patterns in terms of the dynamic interface of each phase and development bubble jet generator airlift pump. Therefore, experimental data are needed to support this effort. Additional work, both theoretical and experimental, needs to be conducted on the effects of type and position bubble jet generators on the flow characteristic and the airlift pump performance, with the hope that the better performance will be obtained.

Gas state equation and flow mechanism of gas–liquid two-phase flow in airlift pump system

“…However, in their calculations, they considered the pipe as a whole and neglected changes in air density along the flow direction. Catrawedarma et al 17 presented a comprehensive review of the literature on both air-water two-phase and air-water-solid three-phase ALPs. They divided the influencing parameters into geometric and operational categories.…”

Two-Phase 3D Modeling of an Airlift Pump in Openfoam

“…However, the usability of the formula (1) in optimization of airlift operating condition is determined by the accuracy of ṁg and ṁl estimates. While ṁg can be set, ṁl is determined by the airlift flow regime: bubble, projectile, flowing, and annular [2,4]. It has been shown that the most effective modes for the transfer of liquid suspensions are projectile and flowing.…”

“…Due to the complexity of modeling the three-phase flow and our focus on formulating a computationally feasible model, the tree-phase flow was replaced by a two-phase model at the current stage of research. The approach of modeling a three-phase flow as a two-phase flow is not new and has been used by many authors, e.g., [4,6]. The main idea here is that the flow characteristics in the three-phase system are similar to those of the two-phase airlift pump system.…”

Particle Transport Velocity in Vertical Transmission with an Airlift Pump

“…Airlift pumps are used to transport liquids or slurries (liquid-solid) in different technologies, such as transporting different gravels and a drainage system in mining, treating urban wastewater, and transporting radioactive and corrosive solutions in the chemical industry [1]. Despite its low efficiency (only 10% to 30%) compared to other types of pumps (eccentric, screw piston, diaphragm etc.…”