Ranade V.V. Computational Flow Modeling for Chemical Reactor Engineering

Academic Press, 2002. — 459 p.
Process Systems Engineering Series. Edited by George Stephanopoulos and John Perkins
ISBN 0-12-576960-1
The information in the book is organized to facilitate the central task of reactor engineer, that is, relating reactor hardware to reactor performance. Several steps to achieve such a task are discussed to clearly define the role of flow modeling in the overall reactor engineering activity. The necessity of using a hierarchy of modeling tools and establishing a clear relationship between the objectives of reactor engineering and the computational flow model is emphasized with the help of examples.
The overall methodology of achieving the objectives of reactor engineering via computational flow modeling is discussed. Desirable characteristics and key issues in selecting appropriate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes are briefly discussed.
A number of examples and case studies covering the four major reactor types used in chemical industries, namely, stirred reactors, bubble column reactors, fluidized bed reactors and fixed bed reactors are included. In view of the wide range of reactor types, however, it is impossible to cover all the reactor types and flows relevant to these reactor types. Emphasis on certain topics and the selection of examples is biased and is directly related to my own research and consulting experience. Some topics, like radiative heat transfer, laminar reactive flows are completely omitted. I have, however, made an attempt to evolve general guidelines, which will be useful for solving practical reactor engineering problems. Some comments on future trends in computational flow modeling and its use by the chemical engineering community are also included.