Washington University in St. Louis School of Engineering & Applied Science, Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Chemical Reaction Engineering Laboratory
Brauer Hall, Campus Box 1180, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130
Phone:             (314) 935-5548

DEPARTEMENT OF
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENTAL, & CHEMICAL ENGINEERING


CARPT & CT FACILITIES
Computer Automated Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT)
Computed Tomography  (CT)
  • Multiphase reactors frequently encountered in practice like risers, bubble columns, fluidized beds, packed beds and stirred tanks are opaque  and typical flow vizualization tools do not work in them.


  • Examples of the results obtainable by their use are given below:




Using CT the increase in cross-sectional time averaged gas holdup with increasing gas superficial velocity, and the increasingly parabolic nature of the radial holdup profile become evident

The particle trajectory monitored by CARPT provides the wealth of information on flow patterns, mixing and direct estimates of eddy diffusivities from the continuous Lagrangian pathway of the particle
  • These techniques are capable of providing experimental data over a wide range of operating conditions in different multiphase reactors over the entire domain of the flow.

  • Data collected from CARPT-CT was successfully used for the validation of multiphase CFD codes for flow pattern and mixing  evaluation.

  • Computer Assisted Radioactive Particle Tracking (CARPT) and gamma ray based Computed Tomography (CT) techniques are unique for quantifying the hydrodynamics of opaque multiphase systems which are not accessible by other means.