New model of pressure drop for the foam trays with dynamic bubbling
process analysis
Abstract
Open-cell foams as the column tray are promising candidates for the
purpose of process intensification in the distillation process. In this
paper, the real foam porous structure is obtained based on Micro
Computed Tomography (µ-CT), and the bubble formation process on
pore-scale foam tray is discussed based on the VOF-CSF model (volume of
fluid method-continuous surface force). The results show that the
wettability (CA), superficial gas velocity (Ug), porous structure, and
clear liquid layer height (HCL) all affect a crucial factor of the foam
tray - the liquid holdup in the porous channels (LHPC). It determines
the effective porosity, which in turn affects the bubbling frequency and
pressure drop. Meanwhile, the evolutionary mechanism of instantaneous
pressure drop is analyzed based on the flow patterns, force analysis and
interfacial phenomena. Moreover, the new model to predict pressure drop
is proposed based on LHPC, which shows good consistency with
experiments.