Heterogeneous mass transfer models for gas absorption in multiphase systems

Heterogeneous, instationary 2-D and 3-D mass transfer models were developed to study the effect of dispersed liquid-phase droplets near the gas-liquid interface on the local gas absorption rate. It was found among other things that droplets (or particles) influence local mass transfer rates over an area exceeding largely the projection of the droplets on the gas-liquid interface. For a specific application particle-particle interaction was studied and could be described by a single parameter, depending only on the minimum interparticle distance. For gas absorption flux prediction an unit cell must be defined. The sensitivity of the absorption flux to the definition of the unit cell was investigated. Finally, a complete strategy to arrive at gas absorption flux prediction from single particle simulations has been proposed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.