Residence time distribution and liquid holdup in Kenics® KMX static mixer with hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber solution and hydrogen gas system

A Kenics® KMX static mixer that has curved-open blade internal structure was investigated to study its hydrodynamic performance related to residence time distribution and liquid holdup in a gas/liquid system. The static mixer reactor had 24 mixing elements arranged in line along the length of the reactor such that the angle between two neighboring elements is 90°. The length of the reactor was 0.98 m with an internal diameter of 3.8 cm and was operated cocurrently with vertical upflow. The fluids used were hydrogen (gas phase), monochlorobenzene (liquid phase) and hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber solution (liquid phase). In all the experiments, the polymer solution was maintained as a continuous phase while hydrogen gas was in the dispersed phase. All experiments were conducted in the laminar flow regime with the liquid side hydraulic Reynolds number in the range of 0.04–0.36 and the gas side hydraulic Reynolds number in the range of 3–18. Different polymer concentrations and different operating conditions with respect to gas/liquid flow rates were used to study the corresponding effects on the hydrodynamic parameters such as Peclet number (Pe  ) and the liquid holdup (εL)(εL). Empirical correlations were obtained for the axial dispersion coefficient (Da)(Da) and liquid holdup in liquid system alone and for the gas/liquid system separately. It was observed that the Peclet number decreased with the introduction of gas in to the reactor while in the liquid system alone, an increase in viscosity decreased the Peclet number. The liquid holdup was empirically correlated as a function of the physical properties of the fluids used in addition to the operating flow rates.