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Gas Absorption and Mass Transfer in a Pore-Array Intensified Tube-in-Tube Microchannel

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Abstract

A pore-array intensified tube-in-tube microchannel (PA-TMC), which is characterized by high throughput and low pressure drop, was developed as a gas–liquid contactor. The sulfite oxidation method was used to determine the oxygen efficiency (φ) and volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa) of PA-TMC, and the mass transfer amount per unit energy (ε) was calculated by using the pressure drop. The effects of structural and operating parameters were investigated systematically, and the two-phase flow behavior was monitored by using a charge-coupled device imaging system. The results indicated that the gas absorption efficiency and mass transfer performance of the PA-TMC were improved with increasing pore number, flow rate, and number of helical coil turns and decreasing pore size, row number, annular size, annular length, and surface tension. The φ, ε and kLa of PA-TMC could reach 31.3%, 1.73 × 10−4 mol/J, and 7.0 s−1, respectively. The Sherwood number was correlated with the investigated parameters to guide the design of PA-TMC in gas absorption and mass transfer processes.

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Abbreviations

\(a\) :

Interfacial area, m2/m3

\(A_{1}\) :

Cross-sectional area of annular channel, m2

\(A_{2}\) :

Total area of pore array, m2

\(c_{1}\) :

Oxygen volume fraction of gas phase at reactor inlet, %

\(c_{2}\) :

Oxygen volume fraction of gas phase at reactor outlet, %

\(c_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} }}^{*}\) :

Concentration of oxygen at the interfacial in the solution, kmol/m3

\(c_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} , 0}}^{*}\) :

Concentration of oxygen at the interfacial in the water, kmol/m3

\(C_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} , {\text{in}}}}\) :

Concentration of oxygen in the gas at the inlet, kmol/m3

\(C_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} , {\text{out}}}}\) :

Concentration of oxygen in the gas at the outlet, kmol/m3

\(c_{n,j}\) :

Mass concentration of organic substances, kg/m3

\(c_{i}\) :

Molar concentration of the i ion, kmol/m3

\(C_{i}\) :

Concentration of the i electrolyte, kmol/m3

\(d\) :

Pore size, m

\(d_{\text{a}}\) :

Annular size, m

\(D\) :

Hydrodynamic diameter of the annular channel, m

\(D_{0}\) :

The molecular diffusivity of oxygen in water, m2/s

\(D_{\text{out}}\) :

Inner diameter of the outer tube, m

\(D_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} }}\) :

The diffusivity of oxygen in the electrolyte solution, m2/s

\(D_{\text{in}}\) :

Outer diameter of the inner tube, m

\(h_{\text{i}}\) :

Ion-specific parameters

\(h_{\text{G}}\) :

Gas-specific parameters

\(K_{2}\) :

Second-order rate constant, m3/(kmol/s)

\(k_{\text{L}}\) :

Liquid-side mass transfer coefficient, m/s

\(k_{\text{L}} a\) :

Volumetric mass transfer coefficient, s−1

\(K_{n,j}\) :

Sechenov constant of organic substances

\(L^{ * }\) :

Annular length, m

\(m\) :

Helical coil turns

\(M_{1}\) :

Helical coil turns per unit length

\(n\) :

Pore number

\(N\) :

Row number

\(N_{{{\text{O}}_{ 2} }} a\) :

Absorption rate, kmol/(m3/s)

\(N_{\text{t}}\) :

Mass transfer amount per unit time, mol/s

\(P_{\text{g}}\) :

Pressure drop of the gas phase, Pa

\(P_{\text{L}}\) :

Pressure drop of the liquid phase, Pa

\(P_{\text{t}}\) :

Power consumption, W

\(Q_{\text{in}}\) :

Gas flow rate at the inlet, m3/s

\(Q_{\text{out}}\) :

Gas flow rate at the outlet, m3/s

\(Q_{\text{g}}\) :

Gas flow rate, m3/s

\(Q_{\text{L}}\) :

Liquid flow rate, m3/s

\(T\) :

Temperature, K

\(u_{\text{L}}\) :

Liquid-phase velocity in the annular channel, m/s

\(u_{\text{g}}\) :

Gas-phase velocity in the pore array, m/s

\(V_{\text{r}}\) :

Volume of the reactor, m3

Re:

Reynolds number

Sh:

Sherwood number

φ :

Oxygen efficiency

\(\varepsilon\) :

Mass transfer amount per unit energy, mol/J

\(\mu\) :

Liquid-phase viscosity, Pa s

\(\rho_{\text{g}}\) :

Density of gas phase, kg/m3

\(\rho_{\text{L}}\) :

Density of liquid phase, kg/m3

\(\sigma\) :

Surface tension of liquid phase, N/m

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program (No. 2016YFD0501402-04), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21776179, 21621004), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT_15R46).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tian** University, Tian**, 300072, China

    Fengshun **a, Wenpeng Li, Junheng Guo, You Han, Minqing Zhang, Wei Li & **li Zhang

  2. Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Baoguo Wang

  3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, China

    **li Zhang

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  1. Fengshun **a
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  2. Wenpeng Li
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  3. Junheng Guo
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  4. You Han
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  7. Wei Li
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Correspondence to Wenpeng Li or **li Zhang.

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**a, F., Li, W., Guo, J. et al. Gas Absorption and Mass Transfer in a Pore-Array Intensified Tube-in-Tube Microchannel. Trans. Tian** Univ. 27, 409–421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12209-020-00248-6

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