Mass Transfer Behavior of a Rotating Packed Bed of Raschig Rings Suitable for Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

AbstractThe mass transfer behavior of a rotating packed bed of Raschig rings was examined to increase the rate of liquid‐solid diffusion‐controlled reactions common in the production of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and wastewater treatment. The aim was to measure the enhancing effect of the centrifugal force and the high area per unit volume of the bed, using diffusion‐controlled copper dissolution in acidified dichromate as the experimental approach and the bed rotation speed, the Raschig ring diameter, and the bed height as variables. A dimensionless mass transfer equation suited for scaling up and reactor design was used to correlate the data. Measurement of the specific mechanical power consumption ε of the rotating bed under different conditions revealed that the energy utilization efficiency increases with decreasing bed rotation speed.