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Multiphase Phenomena and Design of Gas-Liquid Stirred Tanks

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Handbook of Multiphase Flow Science and Technology

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Abstract

Gas-liquid stirred tanks (GLST) are popular in the chemical, petrochemical, and biochemical industries due to their simplicity, good mixing and mass transfer, high degree of gas recirculation, variety of impellers available for selection, and flexibility. This chapter attempts to provide a basic information on phenomenon occurring in GLST, parts of GLST, and design guidelines that would be useful for practicing process design engineers to mitigate challenges faced in GLSTs. The chapter starts with a brief on reaction regimes and fundamental concepts including correlations to estimate important design parameters, which are useful in operation of GLST and other types of gas-liquid contactors as well. Further, importance of multiphase phenomenon (hydrodynamics, flow regimes, mixing, gas bubbles breakage, and coalescence), gas holdup, gassed power consumption, and gas-liquid mass transfer has been put forward along with its relation with several choice-based factors such as gas flow rate, impeller speed, number of impellers, type of impellers and their combination, sparger geometry, physicochemical properties of liquid and gas, and others. Also, a brief overview with an emphasis on measurement and estimation of performance variables such as mixing time, mass transfer coefficient, and gas holdup along with empirical correlations with recommendations has been provided. Finally, general guidelines to design a GLST with remarks on their physical significance with worked out examples, a brief on design and importance of scaled down version of GLST, and diagnostic tests that can be conducted in laboratory to know rate-controlling step and existing reaction regime are provided.

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Abbreviations

N :

Impeller rotational speed, rps

T :

Tank diameter, m

D :

Impeller diameter, m

D S :

Sparger diameter, m

W B :

Baffle width, m

μ :

Viscosity for Newtonian fluids and apparent viscosity for non-Newtonian fluids, Pa.s

σ :

Surface tension, J/m2

ρ L :

Liquid density, kg/m3

ρ G :

Liquid density, kg/m3

N P :

Ungassed power number, dimensionless

N PG :

Gassed power number, dimensionless

N Q :

Flow number, dimensionless

Q G :

Volumetric flow rate of gas, m3/s

V G :

Superficial gas velocity, m/s

C A :

Concentration of gas component A in liquid phase containing component B, kmol/m3

C B :

Concentration of component B in bulk liquid phase, kmol/m3

R AB :

Rate of mass transfer of A into B,

r AB :

Rate of reaction of A with B

m, n:

Reaction order wrt A and B, respectively

k L :

Specific rate of mass transfer or liquid side mass transfer coefficient, m/s

\( \underline{a} \) :

Interfacial area, m2/m3

\( {k}_{\mathrm{L}}\underline{a} \) :

Volumetric liquid mass transfer coefficient, s−1

ε G :

Gas holdup, dimensionless

E i :

Enhancement factor due to instantaneous reaction

θ C :

Circulation time, s

θ mix :

Mixing time, s

H D :

Height of gas-liquid dispersion the tank, m

H L :

Height of liquid in tank without gas in the tank, m

Re:

Reynolds number, dimensionless

Fr:

Froud number, dimensionless

We:

Weber number, dimensionless

FlG:

Gas flow number or aeration number, dimensionless

P G :

Gassed power, W

P T :

Total power, W

P GL :

Power consumption at gas-liquid interface, W

V L :

Volume of liquid, m3

Ha:

Hatta number

F D :

Drag force acting upon gas bubble, N

F B :

Buoyancy force acting upon gas bubble, N

F G :

Gravitational force of gas bubble, N

C B∞ :

Drag coefficient on gas bubble

d B :

Bubble diameter, m

N F-L :

Impeller rotational speed at transition of flooding to loading regime, rps

N L-CD :

Impeller rotational speed at transition of loading to complete dispersion regime, rps

μ a :

Viscosity, Pa.s

τ :

Torque, N.m

k G :

Gas side mass transfer coefficient, m/s

K H :

Henry’s coefficient

P :

Partial pressure of gas in bulk gas phase, Pa

P*:

Equilibrium partial pressure of gas at gas-liquid interface, Pa

C*:

Equilibrium concentration of gas at gas-liquid interface, kmol/m3

C :

Concentration of gas at bulk liquid phase, kmol/m3

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deepak Research and Development Center, Deepak Nitrite Ltd, Vadodara, Gujarat, India

    Satish D. Shewale

  2. Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Aniruddha B. Pandit

Authors
  1. Satish D. Shewale
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  2. Aniruddha B. Pandit
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aniruddha B. Pandit .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Guan Heng Yeoh

  2. Mumbai, India

    J. B. Joshi

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© 2023 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Shewale, S.D., Pandit, A.B. (2023). Multiphase Phenomena and Design of Gas-Liquid Stirred Tanks. In: Yeoh, G.H., Joshi, J.B. (eds) Handbook of Multiphase Flow Science and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-86-6_47-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4585-86-6_47-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-4585-86-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-4585-86-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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