Hydrodynamics of high gas-liquid ratio flows in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor

The rotor-stator Spinning Disc Reactor (rs-SDR) is a versatile continuous flow reactor aiming at intensification of (micro)mixing and intensification of mass and heat transfer rates for both single and multiphase processes [e.g. 1,2]. For such transfer processes the hydrodynamics of the fluids govern the performance of the reactor. While for a single liquid flow the hydrodynamics in the rs-SDR are relatively well understood [3], for gas-liquid flows only low gas-liquid volumetric flow ratios (φv,G/φv,L≤1) have been described [2]. However, in many applications (such as boiling/condensing fluids, gas absorption) much higher gas-liquid flow ratios are encountered. To be able to perform (and more important, to control) such processes using a rs-SDR, the current work presents gas-liquid hydrodynamics (using high-speed image analysis), and the accompanying pressure drop, for high gas-liquid flow ratios (φv,G/φv,L = 120).