Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Visualization of water vapour flow in a packed bed adsorber by near-infrared diffused transmittance tomography
AU - tSaoir, Meabh Nic An
AU - Abreu Fernandes, Daniel Luis
AU - Sa, Jacinto
AU - McMaster, Michael
AU - Kitagawa, Kuniyuki
AU - Hardacre, Christopher
AU - Aiouache, Farid
PY - 2011/12/15
Y1 - 2011/12/15
N2 - This work presents a procedure based on spatially-resolved near-infrared imaging, in order to observe temperature and composition maps in gas-solid packed beds subjected to effects of aspect ratio and non-isothermal conditions. The technique was applied to the water vapour flow in a packed bed adsorber of low aspect ratio, filled with silica gel, using a tuneable diode laser, focal planar array detector and tomographic reconstruction. The 2D projected images from parallel scanning permitted data to be retrieved from the packing and above the packing sections of 12.0 x 12.0 x 18.2 mm(3) at a volume-resolution of 0.15 x 0.15 x 0.026 mm(3) and a time-resolution of less than 3 min. The technique revealed uneven temperature and composition maps in the core packed bed and in the vicinity of the wall due to flow maldistribution. In addition, the heat uptake from the packed bed and local cross-mixing were experimentally ascertained by local profiles of the water vapour composition and temperature under various aspect ratios and feed flow rates. The relative deviations in temperature and compositions were 11.1% and 9.3%, respectively. The deviation in composition, which covers the packing and above the packing sections, was slightly higher than the deviation of 8% obtained up-to-date but was limited to the exit of a packed bed adsorber.
AB - This work presents a procedure based on spatially-resolved near-infrared imaging, in order to observe temperature and composition maps in gas-solid packed beds subjected to effects of aspect ratio and non-isothermal conditions. The technique was applied to the water vapour flow in a packed bed adsorber of low aspect ratio, filled with silica gel, using a tuneable diode laser, focal planar array detector and tomographic reconstruction. The 2D projected images from parallel scanning permitted data to be retrieved from the packing and above the packing sections of 12.0 x 12.0 x 18.2 mm(3) at a volume-resolution of 0.15 x 0.15 x 0.026 mm(3) and a time-resolution of less than 3 min. The technique revealed uneven temperature and composition maps in the core packed bed and in the vicinity of the wall due to flow maldistribution. In addition, the heat uptake from the packed bed and local cross-mixing were experimentally ascertained by local profiles of the water vapour composition and temperature under various aspect ratios and feed flow rates. The relative deviations in temperature and compositions were 11.1% and 9.3%, respectively. The deviation in composition, which covers the packing and above the packing sections, was slightly higher than the deviation of 8% obtained up-to-date but was limited to the exit of a packed bed adsorber.
KW - Near-infrared tomography
KW - Visualization
KW - Adsorption
KW - Packed bed
KW - Porous media
KW - Transport processes
U2 - 10.1016/j.ces.2011.08.049
DO - 10.1016/j.ces.2011.08.049
M3 - Journal article
VL - 66
SP - 6407
EP - 6423
JO - Chemical Engineering Science
JF - Chemical Engineering Science
SN - 0009-2509
IS - 24
ER -