Objective
The objective of the project is to develop a model to optimize chemical reactors with regard to power consumption, mixing properties and process yields. Additional benefits are reduction of time and costs of design and scaling-up of reactors. The model will be applied to precipitation and polymerization processes.
After an initial characterization of the process model with respect to flow, scalar mixing and reaction, a detailed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis will be carried out with turbulence and reaction modelling techniques.
Advanced models of turbulence (the Reynolds stress model for flowfield and the scalar flux model for scalar transport) will be developed and used instead of the k- model which is not accurate in the vicinity of the impeller blades. A survey of reaction modelling techniques will also be carried out. Classical approaches will be analyzed and new micromixing models derived.
The development of numerical models and the implementation of process improvements, suggested by the predictions to commercial scale, require supporting experimental work , both bench-scale and large-scale, using laser anemometry and video flow visualization techniques.
Detailed measurements of mean and fluctuating velocities are carried out by means of Laser Doppler Anemometry. A particle tracking method will be used to obtain detailed information on the history of individual flow elements and to visualize overall flow in stirred reactors. The Particle Image Velocimetry technique or the Laser Speckle Velocimetry technique will determine the velocity of particles. The power measurements together with the flow pattern visualization will allow the selection of a few flow conditions to be investigated thoroughly. Several techniques combining visualization and image analysis will be used to measure concentrations. Several test-reactions, sensitive to micromixing effects, will be used in different reactors. The intensity of micromixing will also be estimated for various reactor scales. The effect of micro and macromixing on chemical precipitation and polymerization processes will be investigated in batch and continuous configurations.
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CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
54001 Nancy
France
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Participants (13)
69131 Ecully
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5600 MB Eindhoven
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SW7 2BX London
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SW7 2BX London
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91058 Erlangen
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WC2R 2LS London
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06120 Halle
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15780 Athens
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10129 Torino (Turin)
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91058 Erlangen
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4200-465 Porto
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4200 Porto
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OX11 0RA Didcot
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