Comparison of Gas–Liquid Flow Characteristics in Geometrically Different Swirl Generating Devices

A PBM-Based Procedure for the CFD Simulation of Gas–Liquid Mixing with Compact Inline Static Mixers in Pipelines

A compact static mixer for gas–liquid dispersion in pipelines is studied in this paper with a Reynolds averaged two fluid model approach. A procedure based on the lumped parameter solution of a population balance model is applied to obtain the bubble Sauter mean diameter needed to model the interphase forces. The gas distribution in the pipe is analyzed in two different operative conditions and the efficiency of the static mixer is assessed in terms of the gas homogeneity in the pipe section, with low coefficients of variations being obtained. A computational model to obtain the volumetric mass transfer coefficient, kLa, developed for partially segregated systems is applied finding kLa values comparable to those typically obtained with other static mixers. The proposed computational model allows us to locally analyze the oxygen transfer rate by observing the limitations due to gas accumulation behind the body of the static mixer, which leads to the local depletion of the driving force. Geometrical optimization of the static element is proposed, based on the analysis of gas–liquid fluid dynamics and of the interphase mass transfer phenomena.

Experimental and Numerical Study on Flow Resistance and Bubble Transport in a Helical Static Mixer

Flow resistance and bubble transport in a helical static mixer were studied experimentally and numerically. The inline mixer increases the volume fraction of gas in liquids by breaking bubbles into smaller sizes with a micrometer size in the flow experiments. The gas–liquid flow was simulated by a combination of computational fluid dynamics and Taylor expansion methods of moments. The friction factor of the helical static mixer is much smaller than that of the Kenics static mixers. The pressure drop increases with the Reynolds number, and the increment is larger when the Reynolds number is higher. The equidistant pressure drop increases with the argument of Reynolds number, and increases when the pitch decreases from upstream to downstream. The energy expenditure increases significantly when the variable-pitch coefficient is too small. The bubble geometric mean diameter decreases and the geometric standard deviation increases when the gas–liquid fluid flows through the mixer. The variable pitch structure enhances the bubble breakup effectively. The change of the bubble size decreases with the argument of the Reynolds number. The effect of the mixer has a limitation on breaking the bubbles.