Modeling and scale-up of supercritical fluid processes. Part I: Supercritical drying

•The model of supercritical drying is proposed.•The model was validated using the experimental data.•The model is used to scale up the supercritical drying process.•To quantify the efficiency of the process specific criteria was introduced.

The mathematical model has been developed to describe the hydrodynamics of supercritical fluid flow in the reactor, heat, and mass transfer during drying processes for aerogels production. The model is based on the provisions of continuum mechanics, and Ansys Fluent is used for its calculation. In this research, the medium inside the reactor is considered as homogeneous two-component compressible viscous fluid, which is described by Peng–Robinson equation of state. In this paper we consider the model of supercritical drying process. A considerable part of the mathematical model is description of the fluid flow inside the porous body (aerogel), where only diffusive transport of substance occurs.The model is used to scale-up the supercritical drying process; the reactor geometry and process parameters optimization in order to intensify the production process, achieve desired properties of aerogels. The geometry of 5 l reactor is proposed and studied using the developed model.

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