On the Use of CFD Modeling and Analytic Methods to Describe Pressure Drop in Highly Dense Structured Adsorbents in Gas Separation Processes and Fundamentals of Adsorption

Author

Ryan Timothy Sanders, University of South CarolinaFollow

Date of Award

8-16-2024

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Chemical Engineering

First Advisor

Jim Ritter

Abstract

The scope of this work can be divided into two main thrusts on topics found within adsorption. The first, and primary, topic is the use of CFD and analytical modeling to describe the flow of gas through a parallel, structured adsorbent channel which is described in Chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 establishes a non-experimental methodology based on using a 3D Navier-Stokes (NS) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model in lieu of experiments, for developing 1D axial pressure drop correlations for structured adsorbents with parallel channels. Chapter 2 utilizes the methodology established in Chapter 1 in order to develop a new universal, 1D axial pressure drop correlation for structured adsorbents with parallel channels of any cross-sectional shape. It is based on the Darcy-Weisbach (DW) equation, which includes both laminar and inertial contributions to the pressure drop. This 1D correlation is contrasted against the correlations, found in literature, of both Shah and London18,23 and Muzychka and Yovanovich,²⁴ and against in-house experimental results. It was found that our correlation outperformed the correlations found in the literature for all channel shapes tested.

Chapter 3 encompasses the topic of adsorption azeotropy. The chapter primarily focuses on analyzing the behavior of CO₂ and C₃H₈ on H-mordenite at 30°C in separation process. A simple 4-bed, 4-step PSA process was simulated using our dynamic adsorption process simulator (DAPS) to examine the impact of the azeotrope on this separation. A variety of feed compositions and flowrates were analyzed in this cycle. A variety of interesting behaviors were noted at the different feed concentrations. The discussion of these peculiar behaviors comprised the bulk of Chapter 3. However, it was ultimately determined that the adsorption azeotrope did not present a barrier to separation.

Rights

© 2024, Ryan Timothy Sanders

Recommended Citation

Sanders, R. T.(2024). On the Use of CFD Modeling and Analytic Methods to Describe Pressure Drop in Highly Dense Structured Adsorbents in Gas Separation Processes and Fundamentals of Adsorption. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/7819