Reactor Size (reactor + size)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Extrapolation of the W7-X Magnet System to Reactor Size

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASMA PHYSICS, Issue 8 2010
F. Schauer
Abstract The fusion experiment Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), presently under construction at the Greifswald branch institute of IPP, shall demonstrate the reactor potential of a HELIAS stellarator. HELIAS reactors with three, four and five periods have been studied at IPP since many years. With a plasma axis induction of 5 T, corresponding to about 10 T maximal induction at the coil, it was shown that such reactors are feasible. Now the possibility is being investigated to increase the conductor induction up to the 12 T , range, corresponding to > 5.5 T at the plasma axis. This improves the stellarator confinement properties but does not change the basic physics with respect to the previously analyzed machines. In particular the 5periodic HELIAS type, HSR5, is considered which evolves from W7-X by linear scaling of the main dimensions by a factor of four. Recent progress in superconductor technology and the extensive development work performed for ITER are taken into account. The latter is particularly relevant since by coincidence the circumferences of the HSR5 and the ITER toroidal field coils are practically the same. For the presented 12 T reactor version, the HSR50a, also the conductor and structural requirements are comparable to the corresponding ITER specifications. Therefore, advantage can be taken of these similarities for the stellarator reactor magnet design. The input was provided by the new code "MODUCO" which was developed for interactive coil layout. It is based on Bézier curve approximations and includes the computation of magnetic surfaces and forces (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source]


Computational analysis of an instantaneous chemical reaction in a T-microreactor

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 6 2010
Dieter Bothe
Abstract We extend and apply a method for the numerical computation of convective and diffusive mixing in liquid systems with very fast irreversible chemical reaction to the case of unequal diffusivities. This approach circumvents the solution of stiff differential equations and, hence, facilitates the direct numerical simulation of reactive flows with quasi-instantaneous reactions. The method is validated by means of a neutralization reaction which is studied in a T-shaped micromixer and compared with existing experimental LIF-data. Because of their large are-to-volume ratio, microreactors are well suited for fast chemical reactions which are seriously affected by the slow diffusive transport in aqueous media. Numerical computations for different reactor dimensions reveal the fact that, in a dimensionless setting, the obtained conversion is independent of the reactor size, if the flow conditions are the same. This corresponds to an increase of space-time-yield proportional to the square of the inverse scale factor. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]


A structured model for the simulation of bioreactors under transient conditions

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 11 2009
Jérôme Morchain
Abstract Modeling the transient behavior of continuous culture is of primary importance for the scale-up of biological processes. Spatial heterogeneities increase with the reactor size and micro-organisms have to cope with a fluctuating environment along their trajectories within the bioreactor. In this article, a structured model for bioreactions expressed in terms of biological extensive variables is proposed. A biological variable is introduced to calculate the growth rate of the population. The value is updated on the basis of the difference between the composition in the liquid and biotic phase. The structured model is able to predict the transient behavior of different continuous cultures subject to various drastic perturbations. This performance is obtained with a minimum increase in the standard unstructured model complexity (one additional time constant). In the final part, the consequences of decoupling the growth rate from the substrate uptake rate are discussed. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source]


Mesomixing in semi-batch reaction crystallization and influence of reactor size

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 12 2004
Marika Torbacke
Abstract Experiments on semibatch reaction crystallization of benzoic acid are reported, in which hydrochloric acid was fed into an agitated solution of sodium benzoate. The influence of mixing and the influence of reactor size are examined on the product crystal mean size. The product mean size increases with increasing stirring rate and with decreasing feed rate. At low feed rates, the mean size increases at decreasing feed pipe diameter. At high feed rates the influence of the feed pipe diameter is more complex. Micromixing is of some importance in most experiments, but the rate of mesomixing especially governs the process. Mesomixing seems to be adequately described by the inertial-convective disintegration mechanism. In many aspects experimental results cannot be described by the turbulent-dispersion mechanism. The product mean size does not exhibit a clear dependence on reactor size, but depends more strongly on other parameters. Results from experiments from 1 L scale to 200 L scale can be correlated fairly well against a dimensionless number defined as the ratio of the total time of reactant feeding to the time constant of mixing. The best representation of the mixing time constant is obtained by making it directly proportional to the ratio of the feed pipe diameter and the linear velocity of the bulk flow passing the feed pipe. The proportionality constant can be calculated from turbulence data over the bulk flow at the feed point. © 2004 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 50: 3107,3119, 2004 [source]


Passive control design for distributed process systems: Theory and applications

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 8 2000
Antonio A. Alonso
A recently developed theory linking passivity with the second law of thermodynamics was used to develop a robust control design methodology for process systems with states distributed in time and space. Asymptotic stabilization of the infinite dimensional state thus can be accomplished for convection,diffusion processes with nonlinear production terms. Two examples representative of these phenomena were considered: chemical reactors and thermal treatments induced by electromagnetic fields. The first case shows how mixing and reactor size are critical control design parameters. If mixing is complete, at least in some direction, exponential stabilization can be achieved by high gain control. If not, stabilization is still possible for reaction domains smaller than a critical volume. In the second case, the electromagnetic field power supplied can always be manipulated to preserve passivity for any domain size. Two important consequences are that the infinite dimensional state can be reconstructed at arbitrary precision by robust observers and that control of the energy inventory will suffice to provide asymptotic stabilization. Theoretical justification of these findings is given on a general framework and illustrated through simulation experiments. [source]


Design of a Tubular Loop Bioreactor for Scale-up and Scale-down of Fermentation Processes

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 5 2003
Maria Papagianni
Microorganisms traveling through circulation loops in large-scale bioreactors experience variations in their environment such as dissolved oxygen concentration and pH gradients. The same changes are not experienced in small bioreactors, and it is suggested that herein lies one of the major reasons for the problems encountered when translating fermentation data from one scale to another. One approach to study this problem is to look at the circulation loop itself. The present work concerns an attempt to simulate the circulation loops inside stirred tank reactors, using a tubular loop reactor specially constructed for the purpose. The reactor carries a number of ports and probes along its length for the determination of concentration gradients within. The broth is circulated around the loop by the use of peristaltic pumps, and the circulation time (tc, s) is used as a measure of simulated reactor size. The reactor system has been evaluated using the citric acid fermentation by Aspergillus niger as a test process. Acid production and fungal morphology, in terms of the mean convex perimeter of mycelial clumps quantified by image analysis, were used as the parameters of evaluation for the two systems in comparison. From comparative experiments carried out in 10 and 200 L stirred tank bioreactors, it appears that the loop reactor simulates the corresponding stirred tank representing a valuable tool in scaling up and scaling down of fermentation process. [source]


Performance of Dual-Media Expanded Bed Bioreactor

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 5-6 2005
R. Abdul-Rahman
Abstract Adsorption and biological treatment are two possible approaches to remove chloro-organic and organic compounds. Granular activated carbon (GAC) biofilm reactors combine these two features, the adsorptive capacity and irregular shape of GAC particles providing niches for bacterial colonisation protected from high fluid forces, while the variety of functional groups on the surface enhance the attachment of microorganisms. The biofilm process is compact and offers reactions in both aerobic and anoxic states. Studies on removal of nitrogen constituents by a biofilm process were carried out using a dual-media expanded bed bioreactor, with GAC and plastic media as support media. The plastic media also acts as a filter for the effluent. Experiments were carried out at F:M of about 0.45 and hydraulic residence times (HRT) of 48, 24 and 12 hours. Bed expansion was maintained at 20,30% by recirculation flow. Aerobic condition was maintained at dissolved oxygen (DO) of about 2 mg/l throughout the bed. Chemical oxygen in demand (COD) in feed was 1000 mg/L while the total-N was 100 mg/L. Analysis showed that the process is able to maintain very stable conditions, achieving substantial COD removal of about 85% and total-N removal of about 80%. Biofilm biomass measurements showed an increase from 400 mg/l at HRT of 48 hours to 10,100 mg/l at HRT 12 hours, showing that much higher biomass concentrations may be contained in a biofilm process as compared to a conventional suspended biomass process. Bioreactors contain their own ecosystems, the nature of the community and the state of microorganisms define the kinetics and determine reactor performance. Growth kinetic parameters obtained are YH = 0.3421 mg/mg, m,H = 0.2252 day,1, KH = 319.364 mg/l and bH = 0.046 day,1. The denitrification kinetic parameters obtained are YHD = 0.9409 mg/mg, m,HD = 0.1612 day,1, KHD = 24.6253 mg/l and bHD = 0.0248 day,1. These parameters enable prediction of required reactor sizes and operational parameters. The plastic media has greatly improved effluent clarification by 98% as compared to single-media (GAC) only reactor. [source]