Gas-liquid flow and mass transfer characteristics in improved heart-shaped structure microreactor

The gas-liquid two-phase flow and mass transfer characteristics in heart-shaped structure microreactor were visually investigated in an Advanced Flow Reactor (AFR). Three various flow patterns were observed in the experiment: Taylor-bubble flow, Taylor-flow, and unstable broken flow. The experiment observed that the bubbles only broke steadily under the action of the first heart-shaped unit obstacle; while in the latter heart-shaped units, the larger bubbles would break resulting in the unstable broken flow. The efficiency of CO2 absorption increases as the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio decreases and the solution concentration rises. The volume mass transfer coefficient increases with the increase of the gas-liquid two-phase flow rate ratio and the solution concentration. The absorption efficiency and mass transfer coefficient in channel 2 with two rows of heart-shaped units is greater than channel 1 with one row of heart-shaped units. Additionally, there exists an optimal performance ratio for reactor under the appropriate gas-liquid flow rate ratio.