Effects of Reaction Temperature on the Fluid Flow Pattern in a Bubble Column Reactor for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Bubble column reactors (BCR) are multiphase reactors that are extensively used in the production of biodiesel. To learn of the working conditions of bubble column reactors, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis can be performed on the BCR. Reaction temperature plays a significant role during the process of biodiesel production. In this study, a CFD software which is ANSYS Fluent is used to simulate the biodiesel production process in a bubble column reactor while applying several different temperatures. The effects of reaction temperature were then analyzed based on the results of the simulation. The simulated results are then validated with a previous research paper of the same case study. For the BCR models, two different designs were generated, meshed and imported into ANSYS Fluent for simulation purposes. The reaction temperature of the BCR is set at 523 K, 543 K and 563 K. The findings from the simulation shows the different contours of the flow pattern, volume fraction, velocity, velocity vectors of the fluid and its streamlines at various temperatures. The highest reaction temperature produces the highest velocity inside the bubble column reactor. The same can be concluded with the gas holdup where a higher reaction temperature causes greater gas holdup. It can be deduced that the reaction temperature affected the fluid flow pattern, velocity magnitude and gas holdup in the BCR.