ANALYSIS OF THE GAS BEHAVIOR IN SPARGED REACTORS STIRRED WITH MULTIPLE RUSHTON TURBINES - TENTATIVE MODEL VALIDATION AND SCALE-UP

The gas behavior in gas-liquid reactors stirred with multiple Rushton turbines was studied. Equipment of two scales and several aspect ratio s as well as liquids of different characteristics were used. The gas b ehavior is modeled with the simple axial dispersion model. Its suitabi lity for these systems is evaluated by means of two different experime ntal techniques-a dynamic one and steady-state one. The model proves g ood for water, acceptable with coalescence-inhibiting electrolyte solu tions, and rather questionable with viscous liquids. Constant tip spee d is an appropriate scale-up criterion for the model parameter-at leas t for coalescent systems. A tentative correlation is also proposed to account for the number of turbines. Scrutinity of the experimental res ults reveals the model drawbacks.