Goswami S, Shenoy NS, Mistry KA, Gupta S, Sharma VK, Bhanja K, Pant HJ. Residence time distribution study in a pilot-scale liquid phase catalytic exchange (LPCE) column packed with a mixture of hydrophobic and hydrophilic catalysts.
Appl Radiat Isot 2021;
176:109840. [PMID:
34256272 DOI:
10.1016/j.apradiso.2021.109840]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Residence time distribution (RTD) measurements were carried out in a packed bed column designed for exchange of hydrogen isotopes. The main objective of the study was to characterize the liquid phase mixing under various processes and operating conditions. The packed bed was composed of a mixture of two different types of catalytic packing materials, i.e., a hydrophobic material and a hydrophilic material. Technitium-99m (99mTc) as sodium pertechnetate was used as a radiotracer for RTD measurements. From the measured RTD curves, mean residence times (MRTs), liquid holdup and degree of mixing of liquid phase were evaluated. An axial dispersion model exchange with stagnant zones was used to simulate the measured RTD curves. The results of model simulation showed that volume fraction of hydrophobic to hydrophilic packing and gas/liquid superficial velocities affect the liquid holdup, bed pressure drop and liquid phase dispersion/mixing characteristics. The results of the present study will help to screen packing, optimize the volume of the packing fractions, design and construct the catalyst and optimize the operating conditions for scale up of the isotope exchange process.
Collapse