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Design and structural parameter optimization of Venturi-type microbubble reactor for wastewater treatment by CFD simulation

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Abstract

Microbubble reactors play an important role in the development of gas-liquid reaction process enhancement. However, the urgent demand for high efficiency and low energy consumption in gas-liquid reaction processes, as well as the trend towards large-scale production, have put forward higher requirements for the design and optimization of microbubble reactors. In this study, a self-priming microbubble reactor was designed and its structure parameters were optimized by (computational fluid dynamics) CFD simulations. Based on the grid division method combining structured and unstructured grids, the most suitable mesh number is selected, and the simulation calculation time is saved on the premise of ensuring the accuracy. The effects of five structural parameters on the gas content and energy loss was discussed and the optimal structural parameters of the microbubble reactor were determined as follows: the diffusion section length is 75 mm, the contraction angle is 22°, the diffusion angle is 10.5°, the inlet diameter of the gas phase is 6 mm, the inlet diameter of the liquid phase flowing into the gas chamber is 3 mm, the diffusion section inlet diameter is 5 mm. Under the condition of the same inlet flow rate, the outlet gas content of the optimized gas-liquid reactor is increased by 42.9% compared with the initial structure. In the wastewater treatment experiment, the microbubble reactor reduced the chemical oxygen demand of wastewater by 61% within three hours. This study provides significant references for the design of the self-priming microbubble reactor.

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Data Availability

Data are freely available on request from the corresponding author.

Abbreviations

a :

Diffusion section length; mm

b :

Contraction angle;°

c :

Diffusion angle; °

d :

Gas inlet diameter; mm

e :

Inlet diameter during liquid phase inflow; mm

f :

Diffusion section inlet diameter; mm

g :

Gas content.

C 2 :

Constant 1.9

C 1ɛ :

Constant 1.44

G k ,m :

Generation of turbulent kinetic energy; m2/s2

G b :

Turbulent kinetic energy; m2/s2

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy; m2/s2

n :

Indicates number of phases

p :

Pressure; Pa

P 15 :

Plane x = 15mm

P 28 :

Plane x = 28mm

∆P :

Pressure difference; Pa

t :

Flow time; s

Y M :

Contribution of the fluctuating dilation to the overall dissipation rate

α k :

Volume fraction of the kth phase

ɛ :

Turbulent dissipation rate

µ m :

Mixture viscous coefficient

μ t ,m :

Eddy viscosity; kg∙m–1·s–1

v dr,k :

Drift velocity of the kth phase; m/s

v g :

Velocity of second phase (gas phase); m/s

v l :

Velocity of primary phase (liquid phase); m/s

v lg :

Slip velocity; m/s

\({\overset{\rightharpoonup}{v}}_{{\text{m}}}\) :

Mixture velocity of two phases; m/s

ρ k :

Density of the kth phase

ρ m :

Mixture density; Kg/m3

σ k :

The turbulent prandlt number for k (σk=1)

σ ɛ :

The turbulent prandlt number for ɛ (σɛ = 1.2)

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Acknowledgements

The research has been supported by The National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFC2101900, 2022YFC2105603 and 2019YFA0905000); The National Natural Science Foundation of China (22178168, 22078150 and 22278221); Key Research and Development Plan of Jiangsu Province (BE2022791 and BE2021083); The Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Frontier Project (BK20212003); Nanjing International Joint Research and Development Project (202002037); The Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. The computational resources generously provided by the High Performance Computing Center of Nanjing Tech University are greatly appreciated.

Funding

The National Key R&D Program of China, 2021YFC2101900, 2022YFC2105603, 2019YFA0905000, The National Natural Science Foundation of China, 22178168, 22078150, 22278221, Key Research and Development Plan of Jiangsu Province, BE2022791, BE2021083, The Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Frontier Project, BK20212003, Nanjing International Joint Research and Development Project, 202002037.

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Author notes

  1. Hanfei Liu, Chao Li and Shuangfei Zhao contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Construction Industrial & Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd, Qixia District, 6, Wenlan Road, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Hanfei Liu, Hao Zhu & Yiping Huang

  2. College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, China

    Chao Li, Shuangfei Zhao, Wei He & Kai Guo

  3. Institute of Nanjing Advanced Biomaterials & Processing Equipment, Nanjing, 211299, China

    Yue Zhao & Yuguang Li

  4. State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, China

    Kai Guo

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  1. Hanfei Liu
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Correspondence to Yiping Huang, Wei He or Kai Guo.

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Liu, H., Li, C., Zhao, S. et al. Design and structural parameter optimization of Venturi-type microbubble reactor for wastewater treatment by CFD simulation. J Flow Chem 14, 161–176 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-024-00317-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41981-024-00317-0

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