Effect of Rheology on Mass Transfer and Bubble Sizes in a Bubble Column Operated in the Heterogeneous Regime

Frédéric Augier (1) , Pedro Maximiano Raimundo (1)

1 IFPEN - IFP Energies nouvelles

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 kL and the specific interfacial area (a) is proposed. Results show that the kL 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.

Keywords: Characterization; multiphase reactor; bubble column; bubble size; mass transfer; non-Newtonian

Domains: Physics [physics]; Environmental Sciences

Frédéric Augier, Pedro Maximiano Raimundo. Effect of Rheology on Mass Transfer and Bubble Sizes in a Bubble Column Operated in the Heterogeneous Regime. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2021, 99 (5), pp.1177-1185. ⟨10.1002/cjce.23903⟩. ⟨hal-03288131⟩