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Effect of rheology on mass transfer and bubble sizes in a bubble column operated in the heterogeneous regime
Author(s) -
Augier Frédéric,
Raimundo Pedro M.
Publication year - 2021
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.23903
Subject(s) - bubble , rheology , mass transfer , mechanics , newtonian fluid , gas bubble , dissociation (chemistry) , materials science , characterization (materials science) , thermodynamics , chemistry , physics , nanotechnology , composite material
A recently developed measurement method has been applied for the first time to the characterization of a bubble column operated in the heterogeneous regime and in presence of non‐Newtonian fluids. The resulting measurements of bubble size are completed with local gas holdup and global mass transfer characterizations. A strong impact of rheology on both bubble size and mass transfer is observed, at any tested superficial gas velocity. A dissociation of the liquid side mass transfer k L and the specific interfacial area (a) is proposed. Results show that the k L model previously validated in stirred tanks filled with complex fluids is satisfyingly extended to bubble columns. The incoming databank will be of great help to develop and validate multiphase hydrodynamic models, especially in the scope of biotechnology and associated systems of complex rheology.