Packed Bed

Previously obtained experimental heat transfer data have been collected and are illustrated along with minor variations of the standard correlations. Analysis of data for heat transfer in randomly packed beds and compact (void fraction less than 0.65) staggered tube bundles indicates that the Nusselt number for a wide range of packing materials and tube arrangements is given by provided NRe ≥ 50. The correlations presented in this paper are not necessarily the most accurate available; however, they have wide application, are easy to use, and are quite satisfactory for most design calculations.

This study examined the hypothesis that solid surfaces may stimulate attached bacteria to produce exopolymers. Addition of sand to shake-flask cultures seemed to induce exopolymer synthesis by a number of subsurface isolates, as revealed by optical microscopy. Several additional lines of evidence indicated that exopolymer production by attached cells (in continuous-flow sand-packed columns) was greater than by their free-living counterparts. Total carbohydrates and extracellular polysaccharides, both normalized to cell protein, were greater (2.5- and 5-fold, respectively) for attached cells than for free-living cells. Also, adsorption of a polyanion-binding dye to the exopolymer fraction was sixfold greater for attached cells than for unattached cells. When surface-grown cells were resuspended in fresh medium, exopolymer production decreased to the level characteristic of unattached cells, which ruled out the possibility that attached cells comprised a subpopulation of sticky mucoid...

Combustion of biomass and municipal solid wastes is one of the key areas in the global cleaner energy strategy. But there is still a lack of detailed and systematically theoretical study on the packed bed burning of biomass and municipal solid wastes. The advantage ...

An immobilized lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TL IM) was employed to mediate the continuous transesterification of sesame oil and fully hydrogenated soybean oil (FHSBO) in a packed-bed reactor operating at 70°C. Reactions between sesame oil (rich in LLL (15.97%), LOL (31.56%), and OLO (21.15%) [L = linoleic; O = oleic]) and the fully hydrogenated fat ((73.7% SSS, 26.3% SPS) [S = stearic; P = palmitic]) produced semi-solid fats. These products are complex mixtures of triacylglycerol (TAG) species whose compositions depend on reaction conditions. The dependence of the steady state product TAG profile on space time was determined for four initial weight ratios of sesame oil to hydrogenated fat (90:10, 80:20, 70:30, and 60:40). Except for the trial involving a weight ratio of sesame oil to FHSBO of 60:40, near equilibrium conditions were achieved at space times of 30 min–1 h. The chemical, physical, and functional properties of the product semi-solid fats were characterized. The predominant TAG species in the quasi-equilibrium products obtained from the mixture initially containing 90% (w/w) sesame oil and 10% FHSBO were LOL (26.22%) and OLO (21.92%). For transesterification of 80% sesame oil and 20% FHSBO, the major product species were OOP (21.27%), LOL (17.46%), and OLO (13.93%). OOP (24.38%) was the major product for reaction of 70% sesame oil with 30% FHSBO. Appropriate choices of reaction conditions and initial ratios of sesame oil to FHSBO lead to TAG with melting profiles and solid fat contents (SFC) similar to those of a variety of commercial products. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Packed-bed reactors are widely used in petrochemical, fine chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Detailed knowledge of interstitial flow in the void space of such packed-bed reactors is essential for understanding the heat and mass transfer characteristics. In this paper, fluid flow through the array of spheres was studied using the unit-cell approach, in which different periodically repeating arrangements of particles such as simple cubical, 1-D rhombohedral, 3-D rhombohedral, and face-centered cubical geometries were considered. Single-phase flow through these geometries was simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The model was first validated by comparing predicted results with published experimental and computational results. The validated model was further used to study the effect of particle arrangement/orientation on velocity distribution and heat transfer characteristics. The simulated results were also used to understand and to quantify relative contributions of surface drag and form drag in overall resistance to the flow through packed-bed reactors. The model and the results presented here would be useful in elucidating the role of microscopic flow structure on mixing and other transport processes occurring in packed-bed reactors. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 51: 365–378, 2005

Determination of dry pressure drops is often the preliminary diagnostic tool for characterizing structured packing-containing columns. One conventional approach that ushered in this area evolves around the use of Ergun expressions along with mandatory experimental pressure drops for the fitting of some empirical constants characterizing a given packing. This method is strictly representational, and incapable of predicting the impact on

A blend of palm stearin and soybean oil (70/30, wt%) was modified by chemical interesterification (CIE) and enzymatic interesterification (EIE), the latter batch-wise (B-EIE) and in continuous (C-EIE). Better oil quality, mainly in terms of acidity, free tocopherol and partial acylglycerol content, was obtained after EIE. The clear melting point after any interesterification process was similar and about 9 °C lower as result of the modification in the TAG profile, which approaches the calculated random distribution. Interesterification changed the SFC profile significantly. For the fully refined interesterified blends, the SFC profile was similar and clearly different from the starting blend. Interesterification decreased the content of solids at temperatures >15 °C and increased the content of solids at temperatures <15 °C. This increase was less remarkable after C-EIE, suggesting that full randomization was not achieved in the used conditions, probably caused by a too short residence time of the oil in the enzymatic bed. During B-EIE, variations in SFC with time, principally at low temperatures, were still observed although the TAG composition was stable. At low temperatures, the reaction rate calculated from SFC was very low, confirming an important effect of the acyl migration on this parameter.

The excessive release of lead from lead acid batteries, smelting plant into the environment is a major concern worldwide. Adsorption process is among the most effective techniques for lead removal from wastewater and activated carbon has been widely used as an adsorbent. In ...

BACKGROUND: The performance of a three-stage process for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioproduction from olive oil mill effluents (OME) has been investigated. In the first anaerobic stage OME were fermented in a packed bed biofilm reactor into volatile fatty acids (VFAs). This VFA-rich effluent was fed to the second stage, operated in an aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR), to enrich mixed cultures able to store PHAs. Finally, the storage response of the selected consortia was exploited in the third aerobic stage, operated in batch conditions.RESULTS: The anaerobic stage increased the VFA percentage in the OME from 18% to ∼32% of the overall chemical oxygen demand (COD). A biomass with high storage response was successfully enriched in the SBR fed with the fermented OME at an organic load rate of 8.5 gCOD L−1 d−1, with maximum storage rate and yield (146 mgCOD gCOD−1 h−1 and 0.36 COD COD−1, respectively) very similar to those obtained with a synthetic VFA mixture. By means of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis, different bacterial strains were identified during the two SBR runs: Lampropedia hyalina and Candidatus Meganema perideroedes, with the synthetic feed or the fermented OMEs, respectively. In the third stage, operated at increasing loads, the maximum concentration of the PHA produced increased linearly with the substrate fed. Moreover, about half of the stored PHAs were produced from substrates other than VFAs, mostly alcohols.CONCLUSION: The results obtained indicate that the process is effective for simultaneous treatment of OME and their valorization as a renewable resource for PHA production. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

Souring, the production of hydrogen sulfide by sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) in oil reservoirs, can be controlled through nitrate or nitrite addition. To assess the effects of this containment approach on corrosion, metal coupons were installed in up-flow packed-bed bioreactors fed with medium containing 8 mM sulfate and 25 mM lactate. Following inoculation with produced water to establish biogenic H2S production, some bioreactors were treated with 17.5 mM nitrate or up to 20 mM nitrite, eliminating souring. Corrosion rates were highest near the outlet of untreated bioreactors (up to 0.4 mm year−1). Nitrate (17.5 mM) eliminated sulfide but gave pitting corrosion near the inlet of the bioreactor, whereas a high nitrite dose (20 mM) completely eliminated microbial activity and associated corrosion. More gradual, step-wise addition of nitrite up to 20 mM resulted in the retention of microbial activity and localized pitting corrosion, especially near the bioreactor inlet. We conclude that: (1) SRB control by nitrate or nitrite reduction shifts the corrosion risk from the bioreactor outlet to the inlet (i.e. from production to injection wells) and (2) souring treatment by continuous addition of a high inhibitory nitrite dose is preferable from a corrosion-prevention point of view.