Offer for the Industry

The RPB rig at Lodz University of Technology, Department of Process and Environmental Engineering, is designed for the investigation of absorption processes. Currently it is customized for carbon dioxide absorption, but can be extended to many other related processes.

a) RPB unit

b) fan blower

c) liquid pump

d) carbon dioxide detectors

e) gas humidifier column

Absorber with rotating packed bed (RPB)

In these absorbers the liquid is brought into the centre of the rotor and under the influence of centrifugal force it flows through the packed bed radially outside. The centrifugal force (10÷1000 times higher than the gravity force) forces the flow of the liquid through the packed bed in the form of film or drops formed as a result of multiple atomisation. The absorbed gas is delivered to the external zone of the rotor, what forces the flow through the rotating packed bed and counter-flow contact with absorbent.

1) RPB packing

2) rotor plate

3) motor shaft

4) stationary casing

5) gas inlet

6) gas outlet

7) liquid inlet

8) liquid distributor

9) liquid outlet

Technological maturity level:

Despite the threshold of the technological maturity required by the industry is crossed, the RPB absorbers are still viewed as a “novelty” and the number of commercial applications is small, but quickly growing, e.g. in the area of absorption of valuable gaseous resources. The equipment owned by the team can provide basic and application research of RPB absorption to various industrial partners.

Technological advantage:

The development of the mass exchange surface and the high turbulence of flowing media lead to the significant increase of mass and heat exchange.

Potential benefits resulting from the application of RPB as an alternative for packed bed columns:

• Economic: lower investment expenses, low operational costs (including total costs of sorption-desorption process).
• Processing: higher efficiency of absorption process (lower amount of absorbent), process scalability (activation / deactivation of subsequent devices), quick start or stop for process continuity, universality (after processing verification – possibility of application for absorption of various gases).
• Environmental: reduction of emission into the atmosphere as a result of the limitation of heat transfer media consumption (minimisation of energy inputs the sorption-desorption process).
• Safety: significantly smaller apparatus volumes (30 times smaller RPB dimensions in relation to the traditional packed bed column with the same liquid and gas flow rates).

Application areas:

All industrial absorption processes of gaseous substances (NO_x, SO_x, H₂S, CO₂, acetone, ammonia, butadiene, benzene, chlorides etc.) in liquids.

Legal conditions:

No patent reservation (also due to the expiry) limiting the use of RPB devices. Now the protection of the constructional solutions and computational algorithms is realised through the confidentiality of information (know-how protection).

Form of cooperation:

The performance of tests at the Lodz University of Technology or at the company premises in RPB absorbers by means of semi-technical mobile plant (from December 2017). It is possible to adjust the specification of test apparatus at the premises of your company.