China Nonferrous Metallurgy

The gas-liquid flow and oxygen content in the pressurized leaching stirred tank to some extent restrict the reaction efficiency inside the tank. Currently, the research on related literature is relatively scarce. In this paper, a mathematical model of gas-liquid flow in the stirred tank is constructed based on Fluent, and the influence of sulfuric acid concentration, baffle, intake velocity and bubble diameter on the gas-liquid flow inside the tank is explored by means of CFD simulation technology. The results show that when the concentration of sulfuric acid rises from 0g/L to 60g/L, the flow rate in the reactor slows down and the stirring area becomes smaller. However, when the oxygen content in the reactor rises from 0.1944% to 0.2017% and the concentration increases from 60g/L to 180g/L, there is little change. The installation of baffles will convert the tangential velocity inside the reactor into radial and axial velocities, suppress the swirling phenomenon, increase the distribution of turbulent kinetic energy inside the reactor to promote stirring and mixing. The gas holdup increases by 2%, but the stirring power inside the reactor increases by 1.2%. Increasing the air intake velocity will significantly increase the gas content in the reactor. When the air intake velocity changes from 0.15m/s to 0.25m/s and 0.35m/s, the oxygen content increases from 0.61% to 1.04% and 1.53% respectively. Increasing the diameter of the intake air bubbles slightly reduces the gas holdup in the reactor. When the diameter of the intake air bubbles changes from 0.001m to 0.004m and 0.005m, the gas holdup decreases from 1.005% to 0.996% and 0.985% respectively.