(18d) Study of Dispersed Phase Parameters in Industrial-Relevant Bubbly Flows

The dispersion of the gas phase in the form of bubbles in a continuous phase, bubbly flows, are in the focus of interest in many technical applications. Not only represent bio and medical technology an exemplary application, but also the chemical and petrochemical industry.

Thus, for the production of chemical raw materials and their processing, bubble column reactors are often utilized. Despite frequent application, the complex flow conditions and the enormous number of coupled parameters which determine the mass transfer between the liquid and gaseous phase, are still hardly predictable.

The complexity in bubbly flow is among others due to the slip velocity between gas and liquid phase, the spatial distribution of the fluidic particle as well as their size distribution. Moreover, the industrial operating conditions, i.e. usually high pressures and temperatures together with organic material systems, require a higher methodological effort.

Therefore, this presentation aims to show the development of measurement techniques, and used standard laboratory equipment for industry-relevant bubbly flows, e.g. organic media under pressure and elevated temperature. Results of local measurements for the parameters which are necessary for the characterization of complex flow conditions are presented. The experimental data are used both for modeling of the local momentum and mass transfer, as well as for validation of simulations using CFD (DNS and Euler-Euler simulation) in the project "Chemical Processes: Multiscale Modeling of multiphase reactors (multi-phase)". The purpose of this project is the optimization of multi-phase reactors utilizing the development of reliable overall scaling models, measurement techniques and various apparatus. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and is involved in the German ProcessNet research network "Campus Blasensäulen" (campus bubble columns).

The project is associated to the joint research project “Chemical Processes: Multiscale Modeling of multiphase reactors (multi-phase)” (Ref.-No. 01RC1102) and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).