Characteristics of a rotating packed bed equipped with blade packings

This study examined pressure drop and mass transfer of a rotating packed bed (RPB) equipped with blade packings using stripping of oxygen from water and absorption of isopropyl alcohol from gas. As to pressure drop, the gas flow rate appeared to be a more important factor than the liquid flow rate due to less liquid holdup under centrifugal field. For stripping of oxygen from water, K(L)a increased with an increasing rotor speed and an increasing liquid flow rate. For absorption of isopropyl alcohol from gas, K(G)a increased with the rotor speed. Also, K(G)a increased with an increasing liquid flow rate and an increasing gas flow rate. The HTU values were about 2.2-2.4 cm for stripping of oxygen from water and about 1.1-3.3 cm for absorption of isopropyl alcohol from gas, respectively, implying that an RPB equipped with blade packings could provide an efficient mass transfer as compared to a conventional packed bed. Moreover, the obtained results indicated that the HTU values of an RPB equipped with blade packings were comparable to those of the RPB equipped with random and structure packings, suggesting a great potential of an RPB equipped with blade packings applied to the gas-liquid separation processes including stripping and absorption. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.