Performance of a novel confined plunging jet reactor incorporating an annular air lift column

In this thesis experiments were carried out to achieve the desired objectives of investigating the performance of a novel confined plunging liquid jet reactor incorporating an annular riser. Air entrainment measurements were made using different confining tubes and the induced flow in the annular tube surrounding the confining tube was measured. The oxygen transfer achieved was also determined and compared with other contacting devices. A literature survey regarding the theoretical and experimental work relevant to unconfined and confined systems, air-lift column and mass transfer has been carried out. The experiments include novel equipment utilized to make the lab measurements including air entrainment and novel air-lift column measurements. The theoretical part of the thesis contains a new model derivation to predict the liquid flow rate in the annular riser, which compares well with the experimental measurements. The objective of the first pilot plant experiments is to make air entrainment rate measurements and to investigate the effect of main variables on air entrainment rate. This enables the research to develop a better understanding of the Confined Plunging Liquid Jet Reactor (CPLJR) as an aeration process, of interest of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and Kuwait, that can be used in various systems such as wastewater treatment as an aerobic activated sludge process, fermentation and gas-liquid reactions.