Publication Date:
2014-11-29
Description:
High-solids biomass slurries exhibit non-Newtonian behavior with a yield stress and require high power input for mixing. The goals were to determine the effect of scale and geometry on power number P 0 , and estimate the power for mixing a pretreated biomass slurry in a 3.8 million L hydrolysis reactor of conventional design. A lab-scale computational fluid dynamics model was validated against experimental data and then scaled up. A pitched-blade turbine and A310 hydrofoil were tested for various geometric arrangements. Flow was transitional; laminar and turbulence models resulted in equivalent P 0 which increased with scale. The ratio of impeller diameter to tank diameter affected P 0 for both impellers, but impeller clearance to tank diameter affected P 0 only for the A310. At least 2 MW is required to operate at this scale. High-solids biomass slurries are characterized by non-Newtonian behavior with a yield stress and high power input demand for mixing. A computational fluid dynamics model was developed to predict power requirements of non-Newtonian lignocellulosic slurry in an industrial-scale hydrolysis reactor with conventional mixing impellers. The lab-scale model was validated against experimental data and then scaled up.
Print ISSN:
0930-7516
Electronic ISSN:
1521-4125
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
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