Year: 1992
Type: article
Abstract: Basic scaling rules are derived for converting Earth-based designs of mass transfer equipment into designs for a reduced gravity environment. Three types of gas-liquid mass transfer operations are considered: bubble columns, spray towers, and packed columns. Application of the scaling rules reveals that the height of a bubble column in lunar- and Mars-based operations would be lower than terrestrial designs by factors of 0.64 and 0.79 respectively. The reduced gravity columns would have greater cross-sectional areas, however, by factors of 2.4 and 1.6 for lunar and Martian settings. Similar results were obtained for spray towers. In contract, packed column height was found to be nearly independent of gravity.
Authors: Donald R. Pettit, David T. Allen
Language: English
Topic: Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
Subfield: Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
Field: Chemical Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
OpenAlex ID: W1615275748