Euler–Euler modeling of reactive bubbly flow in a bubble column

Abstract

To clarify the mass transfer mechanism and reaction behavior in the multiphase flow process, numerical simulations were implemented in the process of NaOH absorbing CO2 by means of the Euler–Euler two-fluid model coupled with the net production rate model of species. Results show that the chemisorption process can be divided into three stages, which are dominated by different chemical reaction equations, and the influence of the water ionization cannot be neglected at pH <10. The concentration change of each species is slightly earlier than those in the literature, while the time-dependent pH value is in good agreement with the experimental results and the consistency between the simulation and the experiment of the hydrodynamic parameters such as the axial component of bubble velocity and the oscillation frequency of bubble flow can be achieved. Therefore, it can be concluded that the mathematical model proposed in this paper can better reproduce the detailed characteristics of the reactive bubbly flow. Furthermore, the effect of bubble induced turbulence on the interfacial reaction behavior is also discussed, and the influence of bubble induced turbulence can be negligible.