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The Engineering of Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination Systems

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Abstract

In this article, the latest developments for designing hydrogen peroxide decontamination systems are analyzed. Specifically, focus is given to the accurate calculation of hydrogen peroxide condensation phenomena and discussion of a new correlation for its accurate prediction. A procedure for calculating the condensate composition or the dew point out of this correlation is detailed, and an h–x diagram for moist, hydrogen peroxide-laden air, which is of fundamental importance for the rational design of hydrogen peroxide decontamination systems, is proposed. Also presented are theoretical results that illustrate the effect of condensation and evaporation in these systems. Finally, some perspectives for improving hydrogen peroxide systems, and the role computational fluid dynamics (CFD) may have in this field, are provided.

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Abbreviations

A DHP :

Total inner surface area of the DHP chamber [m²]

B j :

Parameters of the Redlich–Kister equation [J/kmol]

c i :

Concentration of species i in the gas phase [mg/l]

c i sat :

Saturation concentration of species i over the liquid film [mg/l]

c p,i :

Heat capacity of species i in the gas phase [kJ/kmol.K]

c p,chamber :

Heat capacity of the chamber wall material [kJ/kg.K]

C :

Dimensionless concentration of inlet gas

C μ , C 1ε , C 2ε :

Constants for the turbulence model

D i :

Diffusion coefficient of species i in air [m2/s]

f :

Target function for the dew point iteration [Pa]

g :

Gravitational acceleration [m/s2]

h :

Specific enthalpy [kJ/kmol]

h 1 + x :

Enthalpy [kJ/kgdry air]

ΔH v,i :

Heat of vaporization of species i [kJ/kmol]

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy [m2/s2]

MW i :

Molecular weight of species i [g/mol]

m chamber :

Mass of the DHP chamber walls [kg]

\( \dot{N}_{{{\text{cond}},i}} \left( {c_i } \right) \) :

Molar condensation rate of species i [kmol/s]

N l,i :

Molar amount of species i in the liquid phase [kmol]

\( \dot{Q}_{\text{loss}} \) :

Heat loss [W]

p :

Pressure [Pa]

p i :

Vapor pressure for species i in a liquid mixture [Pa]

p i sat :

Vapor pressure of pure species i [Pa]

p tot :

Total pressure [Pa]

\( \vec{R} \) :

Reynolds stress tensor [m2/s2]

R :

Molar gas constant, 8.314472 [J/mol.K]

R gas :

Gas constant for air, 287.05 [J/kg.K]

Ra :

Rayleigh number

Sc t :

turbulent Schmidt number

T :

temperature [K]

\( \vec{U} \) :

Velocity vector [m/s]

V c :

Chamber volume [m3]

\( \dot{V}_j \) :

Volumetric flow rate [m3/s]

w i :

Mass fraction of species i

X :

Absolute moisture content of the air [g/kgdry air]

x i :

Molar fraction of species i in the liquid phase

y i :

Molar fraction of species i in the gas phase

Z :

Height level [m]

α eff :

Effective energy diffusion coefficient [W/m.K]

α :

Heat transfer coefficient [W/m2.K]

β i :

Mass transfer coefficient [m2/s]

ε :

Energy dissipation rate [m2/s3]

φ :

Mass flux vector [kg/m2.s]

γ i :

Activity coefficient for species i

Γ :

Turbulent diffusion coefficient [kg/m.s]

λ air :

Heat conductivity of air [W/m.K]

µ t :

Turbulence viscosity [Pa.s]

ρ :

Density [kg/m3]

σ k , σ ε :

Constants for the turbulence model

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Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge financial support of Ortner Cleanrooms Unlimited GmbH.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Process and Particle Engineering, Graz University of Technology, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Stefan Radl, Radompon Sungkorn & Johannes G. Khinast

  2. Ortner Cleanrooms Unlimited, Uferweg 7, 9500, Villach, Austria

    Stefanie Ortner

Authors
  1. Stefan Radl
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  2. Stefanie Ortner
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  3. Radompon Sungkorn
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  4. Johannes G. Khinast
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Johannes G. Khinast.

Appendix

Appendix

In order to validate the developed solver, a comparison of numerical and experimental has been performed. Therefore, our results have been compared with the results from Corvaro and Paroncini [23]. The setup consisted of a square cavity (with height of 0.05 m and a total length of 0.41 m) with a heated strip placed on the bottom wall. In the case studied in our work, the heated strip was positioned at the center of the bottom wall. The fluid in the cavity is air and the heated strip was made of brass. The side walls of the cavity were cooled and had a constant temperature of 285.5 K. The temperature of the heated strip was 302.1 K, such that the resulting Rayleigh number was Ra = 2.02 × 105.

Figure 6 shows the temperature and velocity distribution obtained with the simulations code detailed in this work. These results agree very well qualitatively with the experimental measurements, as well as the simulation results of Corvaro and Paroncini [23]. The computed mean dimensionless heat transfer coefficient (i.e., the mean Nusselt number Nu m) averaged over the heated strip using our calculations was determined as Nu m = 6.16. From simulations reported by Corvaro and Paroncini [23], Nu m = 6.28, whereas the experimental result was Nu m = 6.45. Hence, the differences are below 5%, which is acceptable.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Numerical results for a the temperature distribution and b the magnitude of the velocity field in a heated cavity

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Radl, S., Ortner, S., Sungkorn, R. et al. The Engineering of Hydrogen Peroxide Decontamination Systems. J Pharm Innov 4, 51–62 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12247-009-9057-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12247-009-9057-3

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