Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer of Gas-Liquid Flow in a Failing Film Microreactor

In this article, flow pattern of liquid film and flooding phenomena of a falling film microreactor (FFMR) were investigated using high-speed CCD camera. Three flow regimes were identified as corner rivulet flow, falling film flow with dry patches, and complete falling film flow when liquid flow rate increased gradually. Besides liquid film flow, in microchannels, a flooding presented as the flow of liquid along the side wall of gas chamber in FFMR was found at high liquid flow rate. Moreover, the flooding could be initiated at lower flow rate with the reduction of the depth of the gas chamber. CO2 absorption was then investigated under the complete falling flow regime in FFMR, where the effects of liquid viscosity and surface tension on mass transfer were demonstrated. The experimental results indicate that k(L) is in the range of 5.83 to 13.4 x 10(-5) m s(-1) and an empirical cot-relation was proposed to predict kL in FFMR. (C) 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 55: 1110-1120, 2009