Optimisation of a torus reactor geometry usingCFD

摘要

Different configurations of torus reactors were investigated, batch (close geometry) andcontinuous (open geometry) operating modes, different reactor geometries (square andcircular sectioned) and, a scale-up of the reactor was finally conducted (100 to 300ml).The torus reactor was simulated using the commercial code Fluent? (Fluent Inc.). Inbatch conditions, a linear evolution of the mean circulation velocities with respect to theimpeller rotation speed was obtained. A circular-sectioned torus reactor of 100 ml wasnext tested to compare the performance with a square-sectioned one. Negligibledifferences were found due to the small volume of the reactor and the high turbulencegenerated inside it.A 300 ml square-sectioned reactor was also studied. This reactor seemed to be moreeffective than the 100 ml one because it allowed higher bulk velocities for sameimpeller rotation speed. Reynolds number and Reynolds mixing number were alsocalculated for the 300 ml reactor. A linear relation between those two numbers wasobtained. In continuous mode, only a slight difference in mixing times was observed forsmall values of impeller rotation speeds (200 rpm). For higher velocities of rotation,differences were found negligible.