Faculty Publications
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Item Understanding the role of modeling and simulation in pyrolysis of biomass and waste plastics: A review(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Ramesh, R.; Suriapparao, D.V.; Sankar Rao, C.S.; Kumar, T.H.The valorization of resources from biomass and plastic waste using thermochemical platforms is an innovative approach. Pyrolysis is thermochemical technology that is very effective in the production of fuels and chemical intermediates. It's conducted by conventional heating, solar heating, and microwave-controlled heating. Compared to conventional pyrolysis, microwave-assisted pyrolysis is more advantageous. The temperature distribution, mass transfer, and heat transfer rates depend on the operation mode through process parameters. The optimization of the pyrolysis process is crucial for scale-up. Computer-assisted modeling and simulation techniques help to develop suitable configurations and experimental methods for better efficiencies. Modeling allows the identification of optimum operating parameters and understanding of transportation mechanisms involved in pyrolysis. Modeling, simulation, and optimization are ideally suited to understanding and analyzing the complex stages of pyrolysis. This review provides insight into existing heat, mass, and momentum transfer models for pyrolysis. The effects of transport properties on pyrolysis are dealt with. © 2022 Elsevier LtdItem The evaporative drying of a two-dimensional rectangular brick is studied numerically as a conjugate problem. The conservation equations for the solid are obtained using the continuum approach. The Navier-Stokes equations have been employed for obtaining the flow field and the corresponding flow solutions are used for predicting the drying behavior of the brick. The predictions of temperature and moisture content show that the leading edge dries faster compared to other sides of the solid. The full two-dimensional solutions differ considerably from the solutions based on heat and mass transfer through the boundary layers over the top surface. Average heat and mass transfer coefficients appropriate to the conjugate problem have been defined, based on constant temperature and moisture differentials between the solid and the ambient. The corresponding Nusselt and Sherwood number values indicate that analogy does not exist between heat and mass transfer, until the entire brick reaches wet bulb conditions. Free convection effects on drying are also studied for some initial period for low Reynolds number. Due to the influence of buoyant forces imparted by gravity, the overall drying rate has improved. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.(Elsevier Ltd, A theoretical model of brick drying as a conjugate problem) Murugesan, K.; Suresh, H.N.; Seetharamu, K.N.; Aswatha Narayana, P.A.; Sundararajan, T.2001Item Oxygen mass transfer coefficients in a three-phase pulsed plate bioreactor(Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010) Shetty K, K.V.; Srinikethan, G.Volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient is a decisive parameter for the selection of any contactor as an aerobic bioreactor. A pulsed plate column with fixed bed of solids in interplate spaces is a recent innovation in the field of immobilized cell bioreactors. Volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficients are determined in a three-phase pulsed plate column involving air and water phases and with a fixed bed of glass particles, which can serve as a surface for cell immobilization packed in the interplate spaces. The volumetric mass transfer coefficients obtained in this column range from 0.067 to 0.1495 s-1la with these variables was developed. The volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient values in the three-phase pulsed plate column are found to be similar or higher than the literature reported values for conventional two-phase pulsed plate columns. The values of volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficients in the three-phase pulsed plate column are of higher order of magnitude than the literature reported values of volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient for many other three-phase gas-liquid-solid reactors. The pulsed plate column with fixed bed of solids is proven to have all the potential to be used as an aerobic bioreactor with immobilized cells due to its better gas-liquid mass transfer characteristics. Copyright © 2010 The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved.Item Semi-analytical method for heat and moisture transfer in packed bed of silica gel(2011) Ramzy K, A.; Ashok Babu, T.P.; Kadoli, R.A semi-analytical model for the heat and mass transfer of adsorption and desorption processes of the vertical solid desiccant packed bed dehumidifier is presented on the basis of quasi-steady state assumption, and is solved using close form integration with the limits equivalent to bed and time increments, and numerically by Runge-Kutta Fehlberg and forward scheme finite difference techniques. The most important parameters during the dehumidifier operation, namely, (i) exit air temperature and humidity, (ii) axial temperature distribution in the bed and (iii) water content are evaluated. Stability of the semi-analytical method is investigated and found that the main parameters affecting the model stability are the bed and time increments size. A dimensionless parameter combining time and bed increments size and air velocity named velocity ratio is defined and investigated. It is found that when the velocity ratio equals the ratio of particle diameter to bed length, the method is stable, and as the velocity ratio is made smaller beyond the stable velocity ratio, the results remain unchanged. The results of semi-analytical and numerical models agree well with the experimental results for both desorption and adsorption processes. Using the proposed semi-analytical model, the minimum and maximum relative errors for exit air temperature are 2.24% and 11.78%, respectively and for exit air humidity the minimum and maximum errors are 3.79% and 27.17% respectively. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Item Improved utilization of desiccant material in packed bed dehumidifier using composite particles(2011) Ramzy K, A.; Kadoli, R.; Ashok Babu, T.P.Solid desiccant dehumidifiers are widely used in drying processes. In most of these dehumidifiers, the desiccant material is used as packed bed of granule or spherical particles. Investigations of intra-particle heat and mass transfer processes has shown that the entire portion of the particle is not participating effectively during adsorption as well as desorption processes [Pesaran AA, Mills F. Moisture transport in silica gel packed beds-I. Theoretical study. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 1987; 30: 1037-49]. This is because the diffusion rate is very small compared to that of convection. In the present work, a new desiccant composite particle, in which the unutilized portion of the spherical desiccant particle is replaced with an inert particle, is proposed. By replacing the conventional particles with composite particles for the same mass of desiccant material, the available area for heat and mass transfer increases and more amount of desiccant material is effectively utilized. Further, in order to ascertain the improvement in the performance of the desiccant bed using the composite particles, various factors like thermo-physical properties of the inert material, composite particle thickness ratio, bed configuration, bed volume, the pressure drop and the increase in total adsorbed or desorbed mass have to be considered. In view of this, a theoretical investigation of the operation of vertical solid desiccant packed bed dehumidifier, using both conventional silica gel particles as well as the new proposed composite silica gel particles has been reported. A modified solid side resistance (MSSR) model is developed for the prediction of intra-particle temperature and water content profiles. Results of the present theoretical models, when applied to packed bed of conventional silica gel particles, agree well with the experimental results from the literature for both desorption and adsorption processes. From the theoretical results, more utilization for the desiccant material is obtained when ordinary silica gel particles are replaced by composite silica gel particles. For the same amount of desiccant material and same mass flow rate of air, using particles of 0.2 thickness ratio the pressure drop decreases by about 60% for the case investigated. In addition, an increase of about 11.07% and 20.46% in total mass adsorbed and desorbed respectively are obtained. At the time when adsorption process ends, an increase of 15.5% in the bed effectiveness has been obtained. In addition, the expected improvement in total mass adsorbed and desorbed is observed to be dependent on the inert material thermo-physical properties for thickness ratio less than 0.5. An optimization technique relating the composite particle design, resulting savings in pressure drop and bed volume increase is proposed. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.Item An analytical model for spiral wound reverse osmosis membrane modules: Part II - Experimental validation(2011) Sundaramoorthy, S.; Srinivasan, G.; Murthy, D.V.R.This paper presents the experimental studies carried out for validation of a new mathematical model [1] developed for predicting the performance of spiral wound RO modules. Experiments were conducted on a laboratory scale spiral wound RO module taking chlorophenol as a model solute. Experiments were carried out by varying feed flow rate, feed concentration and feed pressure and recording the readings of permeate concentration, retentate flow rate, retentate concentration and retentate pressure. A total of 73 experimental readings were recorded. The membrane transport parameters Aw (solvent transport coefficient) and Bs (solute transport coefficient) and the feed channel friction parameter b were estimated by a graphical technique developed in this work. The mass transfer coefficient k, estimated using the experimental data, was found to be strongly influenced by solvent flux and solute concentration apart from the fluid velocity. Taking the effects of solvent flux, solute concentration and fluid velocity, a new mass transfer correlation for Sherwood number is proposed in this work for the estimation of mass transfer coefficient. Comparison of model predictions with experimental observations demonstrated that the model was capable of predicting permeate concentration within 10% error, retentate rate flow within 4% error and rejection coefficient within 5% error. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.Item Mixing and solid-liquid mass transfer characteristics in a three phase pulsed plate column with packed bed of solids in interplate spaces-a novel aerobic immobilized cell bioreactor(2011) Shetty K, V.S.; Srinikethan, G.Background: The pulsed plate column (PPC) with packed bed of solids in the interplate spaces finds use as a three phase aerobic bioreactor and is a potential heterogeneous catalytic reactor. Good knowledge of the extent of mixing in the liquid phase and solid-liquid mass transfer coefficient are essential for modeling, design and optimization of these columns. The present work aims at the study of liquid phase mixing and solid-liquid mass transfer characteristics in a three phase PPC. Results: Residence time distribution studies were performed. Dispersion number was found to increase with increase in liquid superficial velocities, frequency of pulsation, amplitude of pulsation and the vibrational velocities. Increase in frequency and amplitude of pulsation, and hence increase in vibrational velocity, resulted in increase of the solid-liquid mass transfer coefficient. Conclusions: The mixing behaviour in this contactor approximated a mixed flow behaviour. The three phase PPC was found to outperform many other kinds of three phase contactors in terms of solid liquid mass transfer characteristics. Empirical correlations developed can be used for the determination of solid-liquid mass transfer coefficients for three phase PPC and hence can facilitate the design, scale-up and modeling of these columns, when used as chemical or biochemical reactors. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.Item Validation of an analytical model for spiral wound reverse osmosis membrane module using experimental data on the removal of dimethylphenol(2011) Srinivasan, G.; Sundaramoorthy, S.; Murthy, D.V.R.A new analytical model for spiral wound RO module has been recently proposed by Sundaramoorthy et al. [1] and the same has been validated [2] with experimental data obtained on a laboratory scale RO unit used for the removal of chlorophenol. In this paper, the need to check the validity of this model with solutes other than chlorophenol is addressed by conducting suitable experiments with dimethylphenol as solute and validating this experimental data with the model. The four model parameters namely solvent transport coefficient Aw, solute transport coefficient Bs, feed channel friction parameter b and the mass transfer coefficient k were estimated. The results show that the mass transfer coefficient is influenced not only by fluid velocity but also by the solvent flux and solute concentration. A new correlation for mass transfer coefficient k, proposed by Sundaramoorthy et al. [2] for experimental data taken with chlorophenol as solute is also shown to be consistent with the experimental readings recorded in this study taking dimethylphenol as solute. Comparison of model predictions with the experimental observations demonstrated the capability of the model in predicting permeate concentration within 12% error, retentate flow within 5% error and rejection coefficient within 2% error. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.Item An analytical model for spiral wound Reverse Osmosis membrane modules: Part I - Model development and parameter estimation(2011) Sundaramoorthy, S.; Srinivasan, G.; Murthy, D.V.R.A mathematical model for spiral wound Reverse Osmosis membrane module is presented in this work. The model incorporates spatial variations of pressure, flow and solute concentration in the feed channel and uniform conditions of pressure in the permeate channel. Assuming solution-diffusion model to be valid, explicit analytical equations were derived for spatial variations of pressure, flow, solvent flux and solute concentration on the feed channel side of the module. Analytical procedures for estimation of model parameters were presented. Graphical linear fit methods were developed for estimation of parameters Aw (solvent transport coefficient), Bs (solute transport coefficient) and b (feed channel friction parameter). The mass transfer coefficient k was assumed to vary along the length of the feed channel with varying conditions of flow, solute concentration and pressure. Explicit analytical equations for estimation of mass transfer coefficient were presented. In this paper (Part I), theoretical studies on development of mathematical model and methods for estimation of model parameters are presented. In Part II of this paper series [1], Studies on validation of this model with experimental data are presented. The studies cover experimental work on a spiral wound RO module with an organic compound namely chlorophenol as a solute. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.Item Interfacial area and mass transfer coefficients in liquid-gas ejectors(2011) Arunagiri, A.; Iyyaswami, I.; Murugesan, T.Measurements and correlations are reported for the interfacial area and mass transfer coefficients as a function of energy dissipation in a liquid-gas ejector. The correlations for interfacial area and mass transfer coefficients have been developed using Kolmogorov's theory and Levich's hydrodynamic derivations. The present developed correlations are validated using experimental results. © 2011 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.