Konferenzraum 614 (Mathematikgebäude)

Multiphase reactors are often the key process equipment, which for a given chemistry decides about the performance of many chemical processes. Any small change in the reactor geometry, internal hardware or operating protocols can alter the fluid flow behavior and may lead to significant enhancement or deterioration in the performance of such reactors. Realizing this, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based models are being developed and applied for a priori prediction of the fluid flow behavior in the chemical process equipment. Computational models capable of predicting the real-life multiphase flows involving complex geometries and wide range of length and time scales are not yet well established. In this talk, our work on development of experimental and computational tools for understanding and predicting unsteady fluid dynamics of gas-liquid flows in bubble columns will be presented. Bubble column reactors, even though simple in construction, are characterized by a host of inherently unsteady complex flow processes with widely varying scales of space and time. The unsteady fluid dynamics governs mixing and other transport processes and therefore the performance of the reactor. In this talk, first, the experimental tools developed to characterize the dynamics of various flow processes in bubble columns will be discussed. Later, the development of CFD models based on single/multi-group Eulerian-Eulerian and Eulerian-Lagrangian approaches to simulate unsteady fluid dynamics and bubble size distribution in bubble columns will be discussed. Finally, the applications of these CFD models for reactor engineering will be discussed with an example of liquid phase mixing in bubble columns.

Dr. Vivek V. Buwa

LSTM, Univ. Erlangen