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1 j
2
ln
1
=
j
_ _
_
_
_
_
ln
r
r
0
_ _
_
_
_
_
5
v
z
h i
P
0
P
l
R
2
8ll
1 j
4
1 j
2
_ _
1 j
2
ln
1
=
j
_ _
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
6
where r
o
; r
i
; l; l are the inner radius of outer cylinder, outer
radius of inner cylinder, viscosity of uid and length of
reactor respectively. P
0
and P
l
are the pressures at inlet and
outlet of the annulus respectively. j is a dimensionless
ratio (r
i
/r
o
). Further details of derivations of such expres-
sions may be seen in Bird et al. [27]. The mass transfer
coefcients were determined using the correlations for
laminar ow developed by Ross and Wragg [12], Ould-
Rouis et al. [13] and Mobarak et al. [14]. These correla-
tions for laminar ow are represented in Table 1.
4 Results and discussion
4.1 Hydrodynamics
The hydrodynamics of an annular reactor is characteristic
of its overall performance and it helps to evaluate the
nature of ow patterns in the reactor. In the present
Fig. 3 Meshing a exit region of the annular geometry, b meshing of longitudinal center plane of the exit region of the annular geometry
Table 1 Correlations for mass transfer coefcient
Hydrodynamic
condition
Correlation Source Eqs. no.
Fully developed
laminar ow
Sh
av
= 1.614
(Re Sc a d
e
/l)
1/3
Ross and
Wragg [12]
(7)
Developing
laminar ow
Sh
av
= 1.029 Sc
1/3
Re
0.55
(d
e
/l)
0.472
Mobarak
et al. [14]
(8)
Sh
av
= 0.66 Sc
1/3
(Re a d
e
/l)
0.52
Ould-Rouis
et al. [13]
(9)
2072 Heat Mass Transfer (2012) 48:20692077
123
research, hydrodynamics have been characterized in terms
of axial velocity prole, average velocity, velocity contours
and velocity vector eld to assess the ow structures within
the reactor. CFD simulations of the annular reactor oper-
ating at ow velocities of 1.8, 3.6, 5.5, 7.3 and 9.1 mm/s
were performed. Figure 4 depicts the CFD modeled vari-
ation in axial velocity with respect to radial distance within
the annular region at various Reynolds number. The results
correspond to a line between the inner and outer cylinder at
the exit of the annular section under study. The velocity
distribution depicted by CFD simulations along the annular
space is parabolic which is the characteristic of laminar
ow in agreement with Bird et al. [27]. Figure 4 also
represents a comparison between mathematically devel-
oped Eq. (5) and CFD modeling at various Reynolds
numbers. CFD simulations also show that the velocity is
minimum at the walls and maximum near the middle of
annular region which is in accordance with Eq. (5). CFD
modeling closely maps the velocity proles calculated by
mathematically developed Eq. (5) as obvious from Fig. 4.
The average relative error in prediction of axial velocity by
CFD modeling is around 2.1 % which is acceptable from
industrial point of view. Figure 5 represents the average
velocities predicted by CFD modeling. It also shows a
comparison of CFD modeling with mathematically devel-
oped Eq. (6) in determination of average velocity. It is
obvious that the outcome of CFD modeling is in agreement
with Eq. (6) with a little deviation. The average relative
error in prediction of average velocity is 5.8 %.
Figure 6 shows the contours of velocity magnitude (m/s)
for the annular geometry for a ow velocity of 9.1 mm/s
through the annulus. The results correspond to longitudinal
center plane of the reactor. Similar velocity magnitude
contours (different in magnitude) were obtained in the
simulations at other ow velocities and hence not shown
here. It is very clear from the contours that the velocity
through the inlet and outlet is more because these tubes
have smaller cross-sectional area of ow as compared to
annulus. There is non-uniformity in the ow at the entrance
of annulus region due to sudden expansion and change in
direction of ow. The ow is uniform through the annular
region of interest (i.e. middle annular region of length
450 mm).
The velocity vector elds obtained from CFD simula-
tions performed at ow velocities 1.8 and 9.1 mm/s have
been shown in Fig. 7. The results correspond to the lon-
gitudinal center plane of the exit region of the annular
geometry. Similar velocity vector patterns (different in
magnitude) were obtained in the simulations at other ow
velocities and hence not shown here. As seen in Fig. 7,
Fig. 4 Axial velocity within the
annular region of reactor
Fig. 5 Average velocity through the annular region of the reactor
Heat Mass Transfer (2012) 48:20692077 2073
123
the velocity along the annular space is uniform and it varies
parabolically in radial direction. The velocity decreases
from a maximum near the middle of the annular region to a
minimum at the walls of the reactor. The ow is fully
developed throughout the reactor. The thickness and length
of the vectors indicate the magnitude of velocity. The
similar kind of observations have been recorded by Duran
et al. [15] under laminar ow conditions during his study of
mass transfer of benzoic acid in annular reactors.
4.2 Mass transfer
Computational uid dynamics simulations of molar con-
centration of Rhodamine B were performed over the
Fig. 6 Velocity magnitude (m/s) contours within the reactor for ow
velocity of 9.1 mm/s
Fig. 7 Velocity vectors a ow
velocity 1.8 mm/s, b ow
velocity 9.1 mm/s
2074 Heat Mass Transfer (2012) 48:20692077
123
studied range of ow velocities. Figure 8 shows the con-
tours of molar concentration (kmol/m
3
) of Rhodamine B at
ow velocities of 1.8 and 9.1 mm/s. The contours corre-
spond to the longitudinal center plane of the exit region of
the annular geometry. Similar concentration contours have
been observed for other studied ow velocities and hence
not given here. At all Reynolds number the concentration
gradient in the axial direction occurs only due to diffusion
as there is no reaction taking place. Figure 8 depicts that
the highest concentration is near the internal wall of the
outer pipe where constant concentration of Rhodamine B
was maintained. The lowest concentration (almost zero) is
at the wall of inner pipe indicating no diffusion to this part
of the annular geometry. The diffusion of Rhodamine B to
a very small distance within the reactor geometry is
attributed to its lowdiffusion coefcient (3.6 9 10
-10
m
2
/s)
in water. A comparison of concentration contours at ow
velocities of 1.8 and 9.1 mm/s indicates that at low ow
velocity the stream has enough time to stay in the reactor to
get more dye diffused into the uid as obvious from Fig. 8a,
b. At ow velocity of 1.8 mm/s the maximum concentration
of Rhodamine B in the annular reactor is 6.23 9 10
-2
Fig. 8 Contours of molar
concentration of Rhodamine B
(kmol/m
3
). a Flow velocity
1.8 mm/s, b ow velocity
9.1 mm/s
Heat Mass Transfer (2012) 48:20692077 2075
123
(kmol/m
3
) in comparison to a value of 2.2 9 10
-2
(kmol/
m
3
) at ow velocity of 9.1 mm/s.
The average mass transfer coefcients obtained from
CFD simulation of annular geometry under various
hydrodynamic conditions are presented in Fig. 9. As
expected, mass transfer coefcients increased monotoni-
cally with ow velocities. The mass transfer data obtained
in this work showed good agreement with those from other
reported investigations where similar annular conguration
was used [12, 15].
Figure 10 compares the average mass transfer coef-
cients predicted by CFD simulations with the values cal-
culated by the correlations tabulated in Table 1. The CFD
modeled average mass coefcients coincide well with the
outcome of already proposed correlations. As already dis-
cussed in the Sect. 4.1 that the ow through the annulus is
fully developed, the CFD prediction has close agreement
with the correlation proposed for fully developed ow
(Eq. 7). The average relative error in prediction of average
mass transfer coefcients by CFD simulations with respect
to Eq. (7) is 10 %.
5 Conclusion
The hydrodynamic and mass transfer of Rhodamine B in
annular reactor under various operational conditions has
been investigated using CFD method. The results of CFD
modeling have been compared with the results of mathe-
matical modeling and already developed correlations. The
velocity distribution and average velocity predicted by
CFD were in close agreement with the outcome of math-
ematical modeling of annular reactor. The average mass
transfer coefcients estimated using CFD at ow velocities
of 1.8, 3.6, 5.5, 7.3 and 9.1 mm/s were in close agreement
with the correlations developed by Ross and Wragg [12]
for fully developed ow through annulus. It was found that
CFD also provides local values of the parameters of
interest in addition to the average values for the simulated
geometry. In the present study, detailed local information
(velocity and concentration proles) was obtained using
CFD modeling of the system which provided a qualitative
understanding of the process to better explain the results.
The detailed predicted ow eld gave an accurate insight to
the uid behavior and presented information which cannot
be obtained from correlations and experiments. It has been
observed that CFD modeling is capable of predicting the
hydrodynamics and mass transfer for annular geometry
under laminar ow conditions.
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