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Feasibility of using water-immiscible organic solvents in biological waste-gas treatment

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Abstract

In order to conclude about the feasibility of using water-immiscible organic solvents in biological waste-gas treatment, a theoretical study was done in which different types of organic-solvent-containing systems are compared with systems where the pollutant is transferred directly to the water phase. For each system the total equipment volume needed to remove 99% of a pollutant from a waste-gas stream is calculated. Three different pollutants with a different solubility in water are considered: Hexane (m gw =71), dichloromethane (m gw =0.1) and acetone (m gw =0.0016), withm gw the partition coefficient (kg/m3 gas/kg/m3 water) of the pollutant between the gas and the water phase. From the results it is concluded that the use of organic solvents is only advantageous in case the specific area for mass transfer between solvent and water is large enough to compensate for the additional transport resistance introduced by the solvent, and secondly if the solvent shows a sufficiently high affinity for the pollutants.

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Abbreviations

a :

specific area for mass transfer [m−1]

a p :

packing material specific area [m−1]

C :

pollutant concentration [kg m−3]

D :

pollutant diffusivity [m2 s−1]

d :

stirrer diameter [m]

p :

bubble, droplet or packing material diameter [m]

g :

acceleration of the gravity [m.s−2]

Gr :

Grashof number:g * d 3p * Δρ *(θ/μ)2/θ [dimensionless]

H :

height [m]

K :

overall mass-transfer coefficient [m.s−1]

k :

partial mass-transfer coefficient [m.s−1]

m gw :

partition coefficient of the pollutant in the system gas/water [kg/m3 gas/kg/m3 water]

m gs :

partition coefficient of the pollutant in the system gas/solvent [kg/m3 gas /kg/m3 solvent]

m sw :

partition coefficient of the pollutant in the system solvent/water:m gw /m gs [kg/m3 solvent /kg/m3 water]

P :

power input per unit mass of fluid [W.kg−1]

Q :

flow [m3.s−1]

Re :

Reynolds number:ρ * v * d p /μ [dimensionless]

Sc :

Schmidt number:μ/ρ *D [dimensionless]

Sh :

Sherwood number:k * d p /D [dimensionless]

T :

tank diameter [m]

t :

time [s]

v bs :

bubble rising velocity [m.s−1]

v s :

superficial velocity [m.s−1]

V :

volume [m3]

φ :

void fraction [dimensionless]

ε :

hold-up [dimensionless]

ρ :

density [kg.m−3]

μ :

dynamic viscosity [kg.m−1s−1]

δ :

film thickness [m]

σ :

interfacial tension [kg.s−2]

Δρ :

density difference [kg.m−3]

τ :

residence time [s]

c:

coalescence layer

to the equipment:

from the equipment

g:

gas phase

s:

solvent phase

w:

water phase

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food and Bioprocess Engineering Group, Department of Food Science, Wageningen Agricultural University, P.O. Box 8129, 6700, EV Wageningen, The Netherlands

    M. T. Cesário, H. H. Beeftink & J. Tramper

Authors
  1. M. T. Cesário
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  2. H. H. Beeftink
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  3. J. Tramper
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Additional information

This work was supported by a grant from the Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica, Lisbon, Portugal. The authors wish to thank W.A. Beverloo for his comments on the manuscript and for the valuable discussions.

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Cesário, M.T., Beeftink, H.H. & Tramper, J. Feasibility of using water-immiscible organic solvents in biological waste-gas treatment. Bioprocess Engineering 12, 55–63 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112994

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