Rate of absorption and interfacial area of chlorine into aqueous sodium hydroxide system

Abstract

Due to excellent mass transfer characteristics with energy efficiency jet ejectors can be used in place of conventional countercurrent systems, namely, packed bed contactors as well as venturi scrubbers, cyclones and airlift pumps. The removal of chlorine from certain gases by absorption in aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide is industrially important in several chemical processes particularly in pollution control. Although, a number of papers have been published in the past, none of them provided a theoretical basis for the prediction of rate of absorption of chlorine from certain gases by absorption in aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide in jet ejector. In this work, the rates of absorption of chlorine from different concentration of gas into aqueous sodium hydroxide solutions of various concentrations were measured at 30°C using a liquid jet ejector. The experimental results were analyzed on the basis of the penetration theory for gas absorption. The theoretical model to calculate rate of absorption is developed. The rate of absorption predicted from developed model is compared with experimental results. They were in good agreement. In this work, an attempt also has been made to develop mathematical model to estimate enhancement factor for jet ejector applying Higbie penetration theory.

Key words: Higbie penetration theory, jet ejector, chlorine, aqueous solutions, gases.