Spinning Fluids Reactor Reduces Pressure Drop
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Solution Overview
Problem
The air-sparged hydrocyclone (ASH) technology is limited by expensive materials and significant pressure drops, and its design is restricted to gas sparging through a porous inner tube, which can lead to unwanted pressure drops and plugging issues under vacuum.
Innovation Solution
The spinning fluids reactor (SFR) design features a continuous flow-through reactor with a fluid contactor screen and separate inlets for two spinning fluids, allowing for efficient mass transfer and reaction kinetics without the need for a pressurized gas jacket, utilizing a mesh screen or other contactor materials that reduce pressure drop and are less susceptible to plugging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a porous inner tube is used for gas sparging in the ASH design, then gas can be effectively sparaged through the tube, but the pressure drop becomes significant and the tube is susceptible to plugging
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the porous inner tube from the system entirely, extracting the problematic component that caused both plugging issues and high pressure drops. Instead, a simple cylindrical shell without porous walls is used, eliminating the source of the contradiction while maintaining the essential function of gas-liquid contact through alternative means.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the expensive, fragile porous tube with a simple, durable cylindrical shell made of standard materials. This substitution uses inexpensive, readily available materials that are resistant to plugging and can withstand vacuum conditions without requiring special porous properties.
2Reliability
If a porous inner tube is used for gas sparging in the ASH design, then gas can be effectively sparaged through the tube, but the materials and specifications required become expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the expensive porous tube with a simple cylindrical shell made of standard, inexpensive materials. This substitution eliminates the need for specialized porous materials while maintaining the functional requirements, significantly reducing manufacturing costs and making the equipment more economically viable.
3Reliability
If gas is sparged through a porous inner tube in the ASH design, then mass transfer can occur, but the design is limited to this specific configuration and cannot accommodate other fluid contact methods
Solution Approach 1:
The invention creates a universal reactor configuration where the cylindrical shell can accommodate multiple fluid contact methods including gas sparging, liquid-liquid contact, and other mass transfer operations. The simple shell design without restrictive porous walls allows for flexible adaptation to different process requirements and fluid combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention divides the reactor into distinct functional zones using internal structures like baffles and flow distributors that can be configured for different operating modes. This segmentation allows the same basic reactor design to be adapted for various fluid contact configurations and mass transfer applications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The SFR achieves fast and effective mass transfer with reduced pressure drop, increased processing capacity, and lower energy requirements, enabling efficient chemical reactions and separations with reduced capital expenditures and operational costs, and is scalable for various industrial applications.
Implementation Method 1
forming a continuous first spinning flow with a first fluid and forming a second spinning flow with a second fluid circumscribing the first spinning flow
Data Source
AI summary
A spinning fluids reactor, includes a reactor body (24) having a circular cross-section and a fluid contactor screen (26) within the reactor body (24). The fluid contactor screen (26) having a plurality of apertures and a circular cross-section concentric with the reactor body (24) for a length thus forming an inner volume (28) bound by the fluid contactor screen (26) and an outer volume (30) bound by the reactor body (24) and the fluid contactor screen (26). A primary inlet (20) can be operatively connected to the reactor body (24) and can be configured to produce flow-through first spinning flow of a first fluid within the inner volume (28). A secondary inlet (22) can similarly be operatively connected to the reactor body (24) and can be configured to produce a second flow of a second fluid within the outer volume (30) which is optionally spinning.