Removal of HFC-134a from Brackish Water Using a Semi Batch Jet Loop Reactor

Abstract

Mineral salt components (Na+, Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, etc.) are naturally excluded during the gas hydrate in which water molecules form cavities by hydrogen bonding and guest gas molecules are encapsulated into the cavities to stabilize the overall gas hydrate structure. However, when using refrigerant hydrofluorocarbon-134a (HFC-134a) for guest gas, it resided in resulting brackish water after the desalination process because of its high solubility in water. Jet loop reactors (JLRs) are frequently employed in many commercial applications because of their high mass transfer capabilities. In this study, a semi-batch type JLR was introduced to improve the degassing of HFC-134a from brackish water. The effect of parameters, such as the initial HFC-134a concentration (200–772 mg/L), liquid circulation (40–80 L/min) rate, and air flow rate (10–30 L/min), were studied in this JLR. The removal efficiency and overall volumetric transfer were calculated and it was determined that increasing the air flow rate has a high effect on KLa.