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A novel three‐phase airlift reactor without circulation of solids
Author(s) -
Olivieri Giuseppe,
Marzocchella Antonio,
Salatino Piero
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.20314
Subject(s) - airlift , sparging , fluidized bed , mechanics , circulation (fluid dynamics) , phase (matter) , materials science , three phase , chromatography , chemistry , waste management , engineering , bioreactor , physics , electrical engineering , organic chemistry , voltage
A novel configuration of a three‐phase internal loop airlift reactor is proposed. The draft is divided in two sections: (top) gas–liquid contact section; (bottom) liquid–solid contact section. Solids particles are fluidized in the bottom section by liquid circulation. The main advantage compared with classic airlift or three‐phase fluidized bed is the reduced stress on particles as interference with bubbles is prevented. Experiments with silica sand (325 µm diameter) were carried out to characterise the hydrodynamics of the airlift. The influence of superficial gas velocity, overall solids hold‐up and sparger height were assessed. A theoretical analysis was proposed to derive simple design criteria.