Optimization of injected radiotracer volume for flow rate measurement in closed conduits
Main Article Content
Abstract
In chemical processes it is essential that the flow in the process is accurately defined. Fluid velocity measurements are important for fluid flow quality performance in flow systems. This study focuses on determination of the volumetric flow rate and its standard (relative) deviation for calibration of conventional flow meters by using a radiotracer approach. The measurements for flow meter calibration were performed at a pilot-scale flow rig using Technetium-99 m (99mTc) as a radiotracer in the form of pertechnetate ion (99mTcO4-). The measured data were analyzed, and precision of the experimental setup was investigated under two different approaches – IAEAs RTD software and sum approximation of raw data. For the first time, the variation of standard deviation of calculated flow rate with the injection volume and activity of the radiotracer was determined. Plug flow with axial dispersion was used to simulate the measured RTD curves and investigate the flow dynamics of the flowing water. The results of the study have shown the possibility of in situ calibration of flow meters with a relative error lower than 1 %. They also revealed a slight dependency of the precision of output results on the injection volume as well as similar results for manual and specialized RTD software data processing.
Article Details
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors grant to the Publisher the following rights to the manuscript, including any supplemental material, and any parts, extracts or elements thereof:
- the right to reproduce and distribute the Manuscript in printed form, including print-on-demand;
- the right to produce prepublications, reprints, and special editions of the Manuscript;
- the right to translate the Manuscript into other languages;
- the right to reproduce the Manuscript using photomechanical or similar means including, but not limited to photocopy, and the right to distribute these reproductions;
- the right to reproduce and distribute the Manuscript electronically or optically on any and all data carriers or storage media – especially in machine readable/digitalized form on data carriers such as hard drive, CD-Rom, DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD), Mini-Disk, data tape – and the right to reproduce and distribute the Article via these data carriers;
- the right to store the Manuscript in databases, including online databases, and the right of transmission of the Manuscript in all technical systems and modes;
- the right to make the Manuscript available to the public or to closed user groups on individual demand, for use on monitors or other readers (including e-books), and in printable form for the user, either via the internet, other online services, or via internal or external networks.
How to Cite
References
Fogler HS. Elements of chemical reaction engineering. 2016.
Pant HJ, Yelgoankar VN. Radiotracer investigations in aniline production reactors. Appl Radiat Isot. 2002;57(3):319-325.
Othman N, Kamarudin SK. Radiotracer technology in mixing processes for industrial applications. Sci World J. 2014;2014.
Levenspiel O. Chemical Reaction Engineering. 3rd. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.; 1998.
van Gelder KB, Westerterp KR. Residence time distribution and hold-up in a cocurrent upflow packed bed reactor at elevated pressure. Chem Eng Technol. 1990;13(1):27-40.
Jafari M, Soltan Mohammadzadeh JS. Mixing time, homogenization energy and residence time distribution in a gas-induced contactor. Chem Eng Res Des. 2005;83(5 A):452-459.
Le Moullec Y, Potier O, Gentric C, Pierre Leclerc J. Flow field and residence time distribution simulation of a cross-flow gas-liquid wastewater treatment reactor using CFD. Chem Eng Sci. 2008;63(9):2436-2449.
Charlton JS. Radioisotope Techniques for Poblem-Solving in Industrial Process Plants. Glasgow: Leonard Hill; 1986.
Ben Abdelouahed H, Reguigui N, Abbes NE. Phosphate slurry RTD - Effect of the radiotracer choice. Appl Radiat Isot. 2016;115(2016):1-3.
Kasban H, Hamid A. Spectrum analysis of radiotracer residence time distribution for industrial and environmental applications. J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2014;300(1):379-384.
IAEA. Radiotracer Residence Time Distribution Method for Industrial and Environmental Applications. Vienna, Austria; 2008.
Burkhardt T, Verstraete J, Galtier P, Kraume M. Residence time distributions with a radiotracer in a hydrotreating pilot plant: Upflow versus downflow operation. Chem Eng Sci. 2002;57(11):1859-1866.
Pant HJ, Sharma VK. Radiotracer investigation in an industrial-scale oxidizer. Appl Radiat Isot. 2015;99:146-149.
Pant HJ, Sharma VK, Vidya Kamudu M, Prakash SG, Krishanamoorthy S, Anandam G, Seshubabu Rao P, Ramani NVS, Singh G, Sonde RR. Investigation of flow behaviour of coal particles in a pilot-scale fluidized bed gasifier (FBG) using radiotracer technique. Appl Radiat Isot. 2009;67(9):1609-1615.
Pant HJ, Sharma VK, Singh G, Raman VK, Bornare J, Sonde RR. Radiotracer investigation in a rotary fluidized bioreactor. J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2012;294(1):59-63.
Goswami S, Jagat H, Meenakshi P, Avinash S, Vijay C, Sharma K. Residence time distribution measurements in an industrial ‑ scale pulp digester using technetium ‑ 99m as radiotracer. J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 2019;(0123456789).
Goswami S, Pant HJ, Poswal D, Samantray JS, Asolekar SR. Investigation of flow dynamics of wastewater in a pilot-scale constructed wetland using radiotracer technique. Appl Radiat Isot. 2019;147(January):70-75.
Sarkar M, Sangal VK, Sharma VK, Samantray J, Bhunia H, Bajpai PK, Kumar A, Naithani AK, Pant HJ. Radiotracer investigation and modeling of an activated sludge system in a pulp and paper industry. Appl Radiat Isot. 2017;130(October):270-275.
Datta A, Kumar Gupta R, Goswami S, Kumar Sharma V, Bhunia H, Singh D, Jagat Pant H. Radiotracer investigation on the measurement of residence time distribution in an ethyl acetate reactor system with a large recycle ratio. Appl Radiat Isot. 2017;130(September):245-251.
Yelgaonkar VN, Jayakumar TK, Singh S, Sharma MK. Combination of sealed source and radiotracer technique to understand malfunctioning in a chemical plant. Appl Radiat Isot. 2009;67(7):1244-1247.
Kasban H, Zahran O, Arafa H, El-Kordy M, Elaraby SMS, Abd El-Samie FE. Laboratory experiments and modeling for industrial radiotracer applications. Appl Radiat Isot. 2010;68(6):1049-1056.
Thýn J, Žitný R. Radiotracer applications for the analysis of complex flow structure in industrial apparatuses. Nucl Instruments Methods Phys Res Sect B Beam Interact with Mater Atoms. 2004;213:339-347.
Thýn J, Žitný R. Problems of residence time distribution analysis with applications of radiotracers. J Radioanal Nucl Chem. 1996;205(2):225-233.
IAEA. Radiotracer Applications in Industry – A Guidebook. Vienna, Austria; 2004.
Hu QH, Technetium, in Atwood DA(Ed.), Radionuclides in the Environment, Wiley, New Work, 2010, p: 217-226.