Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor
Oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) have been developed to achieve high degrees of oxidant exposures over relatively short space times (defined as the ratio of reactor volume to the volumetric flow rate). While, due to their increased use, attention has been paid to their ability to replicate realisti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2018-03-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/11/1741/2018/amt-11-1741-2018.pdf |
| _version_ | 1818908166180569088 |
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| author | D. Mitroo D. Mitroo D. Mitroo Y. Sun Y. Sun D. P. Combest P. Kumar B. J. Williams |
| author_facet | D. Mitroo D. Mitroo D. Mitroo Y. Sun Y. Sun D. P. Combest P. Kumar B. J. Williams |
| author_sort | D. Mitroo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) have been developed to achieve high degrees of
oxidant exposures over relatively short space times (defined as the ratio of
reactor volume to the volumetric flow rate). While, due to their increased
use, attention has been paid to their ability to replicate realistic
tropospheric reactions by modeling the chemistry inside the reactor, there is
a desire to customize flow patterns. This work demonstrates the importance of
decoupling tracer signal of the reactor from that of the tubing when
experimentally obtaining these flow patterns. We modeled the residence time
distributions (RTDs) inside the Washington University Potential Aerosol Mass
(WU-PAM) reactor, an OFR, for a simple set of configurations by applying the
tank-in-series (TIS) model, a one-parameter model, to a deconvolution
algorithm. The value of the parameter, <i>N</i>, is close to unity for every case
except one having the highest space time. Combined, the results suggest that
volumetric flow rate affects mixing patterns more than use of our internals.
We selected results from the simplest case, at 78 s space time with one
inlet and one outlet, absent of baffles and spargers, and compared the
experimental F curve to that of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
simulation. The F curves, which represent the cumulative time spent in the
reactor by flowing material, match reasonably well. We value that the use of a small aspect ratio reactor such as the WU-PAM reduces wall interactions; however sudden apertures introduce disturbances in the flow, and suggest applying the methodology of tracer testing described in this work to investigate RTDs in OFRs to observe the effect of modified inlets, outlets and use of internals prior to application (e.g., field deployment vs. laboratory study). |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:06:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1561cd84b0ba4130be622bb527fe948c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T22:06:41Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| spelling | doaj.art-1561cd84b0ba4130be622bb527fe948c2022-12-21T20:04:00ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Measurement Techniques1867-13811867-85482018-03-01111741175610.5194/amt-11-1741-2018Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactorD. Mitroo0D. Mitroo1D. Mitroo2Y. Sun3Y. Sun4D. P. Combest5P. Kumar6B. J. Williams7Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAnow at: Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USAThese authors contributed equally to this work.Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAThese authors contributed equally to this work.ENGYS LLC, St. Louis, MO, USADiscipline of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Palaj, Gujarat 382355, IndiaDepartment of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USAOxidation flow reactors (OFRs) have been developed to achieve high degrees of oxidant exposures over relatively short space times (defined as the ratio of reactor volume to the volumetric flow rate). While, due to their increased use, attention has been paid to their ability to replicate realistic tropospheric reactions by modeling the chemistry inside the reactor, there is a desire to customize flow patterns. This work demonstrates the importance of decoupling tracer signal of the reactor from that of the tubing when experimentally obtaining these flow patterns. We modeled the residence time distributions (RTDs) inside the Washington University Potential Aerosol Mass (WU-PAM) reactor, an OFR, for a simple set of configurations by applying the tank-in-series (TIS) model, a one-parameter model, to a deconvolution algorithm. The value of the parameter, <i>N</i>, is close to unity for every case except one having the highest space time. Combined, the results suggest that volumetric flow rate affects mixing patterns more than use of our internals. We selected results from the simplest case, at 78 s space time with one inlet and one outlet, absent of baffles and spargers, and compared the experimental F curve to that of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The F curves, which represent the cumulative time spent in the reactor by flowing material, match reasonably well. We value that the use of a small aspect ratio reactor such as the WU-PAM reduces wall interactions; however sudden apertures introduce disturbances in the flow, and suggest applying the methodology of tracer testing described in this work to investigate RTDs in OFRs to observe the effect of modified inlets, outlets and use of internals prior to application (e.g., field deployment vs. laboratory study).https://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/11/1741/2018/amt-11-1741-2018.pdf |
| spellingShingle | D. Mitroo D. Mitroo D. Mitroo Y. Sun Y. Sun D. P. Combest P. Kumar B. J. Williams Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| title | Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor |
| title_full | Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor |
| title_short | Assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors (OFRs): a study on a potential aerosol mass (PAM) reactor |
| title_sort | assessing the degree of plug flow in oxidation flow reactors ofrs a study on a potential aerosol mass pam reactor |
| url | https://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/11/1741/2018/amt-11-1741-2018.pdf |
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