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Absorption in cocurrent gas liquid flow in horizontal tubes

University of British Columbia

Gas absorption rates were experimentally determined for a number of tworphase gas-liquid systems in co-current horizontal flow through circular tubes. Sparingly soluble gases were used in order to determine the liquid phase resistance to mass transfer. A series of experiments was designed to separate the effects of gas density, liquid-phase diffusivity, viscosity, surface tension, and tube diameter, on the mass transfer rates. The gas-liquid systems employed, in a single tube 1.757 cm. in diameter, were CO₂-water, He-water, CO₂-ethanol, and CO₂-ethylene glycol. Two additional tube sizes, 1.228 and 2.504.cm. in diameter were employed with the C02-water system to determine the effect of tube diameter. The gas and liquid flow rates used produced four different flow regions, bubble, plug, slug, and annular flow. The gas, and liquid, superficial velocities ranged from 0.1 to 40 fps, and 0.5 to 3.6 fps, respectively. Two correlations were developed for predicting mass transfer rates in two-phase flow. The first, based on a theory that each bubble represents a "mixing stage", is applicable to the bubble and plug regions of flow, and correlates the experimental' data for a wide range of liquid physical properties, as well as gas and liquid flow rates, with a probable error of approximately 15%. The second correlation, applicable to slug flow, empirically correlates the data for this region, over the same wide range of physical properties and flow rates, with a probable error of approximately 10%. The surface renewal or "penetration theory" mechanism of transfer is shown to be consistent with the experimental results obtained in the bubble and plug regions. In the slug region, on the other hand, evidence is available to indicate that another mechanism (probably that proposed by Kishinevskii), becomes increasingly important as the degree of turbulence increases.

Text

2011-10-20

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/38125

Chemical and Biological Engineering

University of British Columbia

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