EXPERIMENTAL VELOCITY-MEASUREMENTS AND EFFECT OF FLOW MALDISTRIBUTIONON PREDICTED PERMEATOR PERFORMANCES

The shell-side flow distribution of a parallel flow hollow-fiber gas p ermeator was characterized using a thermo-anemograph. The permeator ha s an internal diameter of 103 mm and contains 21000 fibers. The overal l fiber packing fraction is 40.1%. Experimental results revealed that shell-side flow maldistributions exist in the operating conditions stu died. The gas-flow velocity is the highest at the permeator center, bu t lowest near the shell wall. The effects of shell-side flow maldistri bution on predicted permeator performances are discussed with a simple model. Model calculation results show that flow maldistributions can have considerable effect on permeation systems with relatively high se paration factors and stage cuts. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.