(624f) Impact of Internals on Bubble Column Performance

Impact of internals in a bubble column reactor is a widely studied topic especially for the interesting hydrodynamics involved. Though numerous experiments have been performed utilizing horizontal, vertical internals and other packing materials, their direct, individual impacts on the bubble column performance is complex and not fully understood. Utilizing effective CFD simulations to recreate the flow conditions has become a necessity to understand these dynamics better. Based on the reaction, operating regime and flow conditions, it is possible to drive the back mixing, liquid recirculation and other parameters favorable to our requirements, by modifying the internal structures. We made an attempt to quantify the performance of various internal designs (taken from literature), for a given column, based on selected hydrodynamic parameters. With a better understanding of the flow patterns and their response to a number of internal structures, we take this forward and propose new designs which are tailored specifically for the reaction conditions and maintaining the flow in a particular regime (bubbly flow regime in our case) even at higher U_g thereby successfully delaying transition. We validate them by 3-d printing these designs and testing out their performance on a laboratory scale bubble column.