CFD Simulation of Oxygen Mass Transfer in a split-cylindrical Airlift Reactor containing surfactant solutions

This article focuses on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of mass transfer in two-phase bubbly flow in a split-cylindrical airlift reactor with surfactant solutions. Three various types of surfactants (containing Tween80, Triton X-405 and SDS) with concentration of 5 ppm were used in the experiments. Different models of volumetric mass transfer coefficient are compared with the experimental data. Also, a simple empirical correlation based on dimensionless groups was developed to predict the volumetric mass transfer coefficients in airlift reactors containing surfactant solutions.

Keywords:

Airlift reactor , Surfactants , Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) , Mass transfer coefficient , Bubbly flow