International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials

Volume 25, Number 1, January 2018, Page 37

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-018-1544-4

Gas–liquid mass transfer and flow phenomena in the Peirce–Smith

converter: a water model study

Xing Zhao1,2), Hong-liang Zhao2,3), Li-feng Zhang2,3), and Li-qiang Yang2,4)

1) Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100190, China
2) School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
3) Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Recycling and Extraction of Metal, Beijing 100083, China
4) Chambishi Copper Smelter Ltd., Beijing Representative Office, Beijing 100029, China
(Received: 18 May 2017; revised: 12 July 2017; accepted: 9 August 2017)

Abstract: A water model with a geometric similarity ratio of 1:5 was developed to investigate the gasliquid mass transfer and flow charac-
teristics in a Peirce–Smith converter. A gas mixture of CO2 and Ar was injected into a NaOH solution bath. The flow field, volumetric mass
transfer coefficient per unit volume (Ak/V; where A is the contact area between phases, V is the volume, and k is the mass transfer coeffi-
cient), and gas utilization ratio (η) were then measured at different gas flow rates and blow angles. The results showed that the flow field
could be divided into five regions, i.e., injection, strong loop, weak loop, splashing, and dead zone. Whereas the Ak/V of the bath increased
and then decreased with increasing gas flow rate, and η steadily increased. When the converter was rotated clockwise, both Ak/V and η in-
creased. However, the flow condition deteriorated when the gas flow rate and blow angle were drastically increased. Therefore, these para-
meters must be controlled to optimal conditions. In the proposed model, the optimal gas flow rate and blow angle were 7.5 m3·h−1 and 10°,
respectively.

Keywords: Peirce–Smith converter; water model; mass transfer; flow phenomena; volumetric mass transfer coefficient

1. Introduction
A Peirce–Smith converter (PSC) is a cylindrical, hori-
zontal reactor used to remove Fe and S from the matte
phase. It is widely used in Cu, Ni, and Pt production [1].
Mixing and mass transfer are the key parameters of the
converter. Several research studies in the field of
gas–liquid multiphase systems using physical and numeri-
cal methods have been conducted. Although the PSC
technology has been employed and studied for decades,
some problems continue to persist, resulting in diminished
outputs [2]. As reported in Refs. [3–6], physical and
chemical processes, such as mixing, mass transfer, heat
transfer, oxygen effects, sloping, splashing, conversion,
dispersion, and accretion growth, in a PSC are affected by
the air injected into it. These processes are also affected by
several operational factors, such as bath height, blow an-
gle, tuyere number, and tuyere diameter [7–10]. The PSC
provides three forms of energy, namely, kinetic, buoyancy,
and expansion. Whereas earlier calculations of the flow
field, phase, and field distribution were characterized by
numerical simulation, flow fields and bubble behaviors are
now directly characterized using high-speed photography
and particle image velocimetry [11–13].
In previous studies, the mixing time was usually selected
as the standard by which mixing intensity and efficiency
were evaluated. Tmix is the total mixing time required to
achieve a value within ±5% of the tracer concentration at
every nodal location in the system after tracer introduction
in a well-mixed bath. Stapurewicz and Themelis [14] intro-
duced black dye at the top of the bath and positioned a pho-
tocell at the bottom of the vessel to detect changes in trans-
mittance in the converter. The volumetric mass transfer
coefficient per unit volume (Ak/V; where A is the contact

Corresponding author: Hong-liang Zhao E-mail: zhaohl@ustb.edu.cn

© University of Science and Technology Beijing and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
38 Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., Vol. 25, No. 1, Jan. 2018

area between phases, V is the volume, and k is the mass Q 2 g

transfer coefficient ), and utilization ratio of CO2 (η), during
gas absorption can also be employed to simulate mixing and
mass transfer in the converter. However, very few studies in
this direction have been conducted.
In this work, measurements were conducted on a 1:5 scale
model of a PSC, and a high-speed camera was used to record
the flow field and directly capture its characteristics. Ak/V
and η were then calculated and analyzed to determine optimal
mixing and mass transfer conditions in the PSC model.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Apparatus
A partial model with three tuyeres was built, and air was
injected into this model through nozzles placed on its side-
wall. The model could rotate along the axial direction.
Geometric, kinematic, and dynamic similarities must fulfill
the similarity principle by considering the related dimen-
sionless numbers. For a gas injection system, the modified
Froude number of the industrial prototype should be equal
to that of the experimental model [15–16]. The modified
Froude number can be calculated as
Fr   (1)
g l  πd 4  D 2 H
2
Thus,
(2)
where Fr′ is the modified Froude number; Qm and Qp
represent the gas flow rate in the model and prototype, re-
spectively (m3·h−3); g and 1 represent the density of gas
and liquid phase, respectively (kg·m−3); g,p is the density of
the oxygen-enriched air used in practice (kg·m−3); 1,p is the
density of the molten matter (kg·m−3); g,m is the density of
injected air (kg·m−3); 1,m is the density of water (kg·m−3); d
is the tuyere diameter (m); H is the characteristic length; D
is the hydraulic diameter (m); and  is the similitude ratio
which equals 0.2.
In this work, the experimental apparatus was a part of the
prototype and consisted of three tuyeres; the prototype itself
was equipped with 54 tuyeres. Thus, the Fr′ of the prototype
and model was not identical (Table 1). If the Fr′ of this part
in the prototype was calculated, the result would match that
of the water model.

Table 1. Physical properties of a generic industrial PSC and the proposed PSC model

Similarity Parameter Prototype Model

Diameter of converter / m 3.17 0.634
Length of converter / m 11.7 0.0912
Height of liquid / m 1.8 0.36
Geometric similarity Number of tuyere 54 3
Diameter of tuyere / m 0.05 0.01
Height of tuyere / m 0.625 0.125
Distance between tuyeres / m 0.152 0.0304
14.46 (air)
Gas flow rate / (m3·h−1) 30000
12.19 (CO2)
17.06 (air)
Tuyere gas velocity / (m·s−1) 78.64
14.38 (CO2)
Dynamic and kinematic similarity Modified Froude number 2.66 3.84
−3
Density of liquid / (kg·m ) 4500 998
1.29 (air)
Density of gas / (kg·m−3) 1.37
1.82 (CO2)

2.2. CO2 absorption in the NaOH solution and
high-speed video technology
The experimental apparatus is schematically illustrated
in Fig. 1. The CO2–NaOH system was selected as the
model reaction. The main objective of this investigation is
to determine the influence of the gas flow rate and blow an-
gle on the absorption rate coefficient between the injected
gas and liquid. The blow angle is defined as the angle be-
tween the blow direction and the horizontal line. Normally,
a chemical reaction rate depends on the slowest step in the
reaction; in this work, mass transfer in the bath restricts CO2
X. Zhao et al., Gas–liquid mass transfer and flow phenomena in the Peirce–Smith converter: a water model study
absorption [17]. The reaction rate in the absorption process
can be calculated as [18]
ln[(Ce  Ct ) / (Ce  C0 )]  ( Ak / V )t (3)
where A is the area of the interface (m2); V is the volume of
the NaOH solution (m3); k represents the mass transfer coef-
ficient (m·s–1); and Ce, C0, and Ct represent the concentra-
tions of CO2 in the balanced state, in the initial state, and
during the process, respectively (mol·m−3). As reported in
Ref. [19], Ce = 0.049 mol·L−1 when the pH value varies
from 12 to 8. The relationship between the pH value and
CO2 concentration can be determined as [19]
Ct 
 K H 2 O  K1 K 2  K1c(H＋ )  [c(H＋ )]2
＋ ＋
 c(H )  c (Na )  
 c(H＋ )  2 K1 K 2  K1c (H＋ )
(4)
+
pH   lg c(H ) (5)
where c represents the concentration (mol·m−3); K1 and K2
are the respective ionization constants of the following two
reactions:
H 2 CO3  H＋ +HCO－ 3 (6)
HCO3 H 
+CO32 (7)
−6.325 −10.329 −14
In this work, K1 = 10 , K2 = 10 , and K H 2O = 10 .
Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental apparatus.
In the CO2 absorption experiment, a gas mixture
(20vol% CO2 + 80vol% Ar) was injected into the PSC
model through the tuyeres installed in the model sidewall;
air was also injected into the model during recording of
the flow field. Ar was mixed with CO2 to simulate the
concentration of O2 in air, which is used in practical
equipment. Changes in pH value were measured by three
probes located in the middle of the model; these probes
were installed 10, 100, and 200 mm (P1, P2, P3) from the
bottom of the model. Variations in pH value with time
(Fig. 2) were recorded by the probes connected to the
monitor of the system.
39
Fig. 2. Variations of pH value with time.
Parameter η could be described as [20]
  [V (Ct  C0 ) / t ] / [  Q / M ] (8)
where ρ is the density of CO2 and equals 1.977 × 10 kg·m−3,
−9
Q is the gas flow rate (m3·h−1), and M is the molecular mass
of CO2.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Characterization of the flow field
A high-speed camera (HiSpec5) that could take 500
frames per second was used in this work, as shown in Fig. 3.
After injection into the bath, the mixed gas rose against the
sidewall, leading to wave formation and splashing. Bub-
bles drove the nearby liquid to flow upward toward the
bath surface, and the liquid flowed toward the tuyeres. In
the bath, the upward flow declined, causing circular flow
in the region close to the tuyeres. This phenomenon is
known as the strong loop. Beside the strong loop was a
weak loop driven by a strong circular flow; no clear boun-
dary could be observed between these two regions. The
bath was completely covered by these two homogenous
circular flows. Over the bath surface, a spilling and
splashing region may be found; this region should be con-
trolled because it would extend the mixing process other-
wise. Flow in the region above the weak loop was fairly
sluggish and could hardly be observed. This region is de-
fined as the dead zone in this PSC.
During the decline of rising waves, a large amount of tiny
bubbles formed and moved with the circular flow, thereby
extending the interface between the gas and liquid phases
and accelerating the reaction. These bubbles did not
aggregate or form larger bubbles that could rise to the
surface and escape from the system. The experimental
results showed that a certain amount of injected air drove
the bath to flow upward and escaped through the liquid
40
surface. Some of the air formed tiny bubbles that moved
with the flow and became involved in the reaction. These
bubbles were concentrated in the strong and weak loops.
Increasing gas flow rate increased the initial velocity
and immersion depth, as shown in Fig. 4; the mixing
intensity and mass transfer in the bath also increased.
Increasing the gas flow rate also extended the volumes of
the injection region and strong loop. This adjustment
helped homogenize the distributions of the gas–liquid
Fig. 3. Flow field (a) and regionalization (b) in the PSC.
Fig. 4. Flow fields obtained at various gas flow rates: (a) Q = 9 m3·h−1; (b) Q = 15 m3·h−1.
Fig. 5 shows that the PSC model clockwise increased the
distance between the tuyeres and the liquid surface, thereby
increasing the distance over which the air could rise. As a
result, the bubbles formed generated more energy to drive
the bath. The formation of larger amounts of bubbles in the
bath extended the reaction and mixing processes. However,
waves and splashing also increased as a result of the injected
Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., Vol. 25, No. 1, Jan. 2018
phase and bubbles, thereby promoting mass transfer and
the reaction in the PSC. However, spilling and splashing
were intensified by increasing the gas flow rate and
allowed more air to escape from the system, resulting in a
decline in η. Under high-temperature conditions, the
system consumes a larger cold charge; strong circular
flows in the bath may also erode the reactor and reduce its
life. Therefore, the gas flow rate should be controlled to
optimal levels.
air stirring the bath more vigorously. Rotating the tuyeres
anticlockwise may cause the convergence of tiny bubbles, as
shown in Fig. 5.
3.2. Absorption rate of CO2
During the investigation, the gas flow rate was varied from
6 to 12 m3·h−1 when the mixing gas was injected horizontally,
X. Zhao et al., Gas–liquid mass transfer and flow phenomena in the Peirce–Smith converter: a water model study
and the blow angle was varied from −15° to 15° when the gas
flow rate was kept at 12 m3·h−1. Fig. 6 shows that the volume-
tric mass transfer and η dropped rapidly at first and then even-
tually stabilized. Probes at different immersion depths indi-
cated variations in Ak/V and η. When CO2 was injected into
the NaOH solution, the concentration of CO2 increased. While
the dispersed CO2 accelerated the reaction and mass transfer in
the bath, the reaction tended to equilibrate after some time,
causing the reaction rate to slow down and mass transfer to
decrease. The characteristics of the flow field in different re-
gions of the PSC varied significantly, so the Ak/V measured by
the probes varied at different immersion depths.
Compared with those of P1 and P2, the Ak/V and η curves
of P3 show an upward trend during the mixing process (e.g.,
Q = 6 m3·h−1 from 140 to 200 s). This result reveals that P3
was located in the strong loop, a region in which mass
transfer and the desired reaction occurred more extensively
Fig. 5. Flow fields obtained at various blow angles: (a) α = 9; (b) α = 9; (c) α = 18; (d) α = 18. Positive angle for anticlockwise
rotation and negative for anticlockwise rotation.
41
than in other regions. After the reaction in this region reached
equilibrium, Ak/V and η could be expected to become con-
stant. However, as a stream of higher NaOH concentration
in the weak loop flowed into the strong loop driven by the
concentration gradient, mass transfer and the reaction rate
accelerated in the strong loop; thus, Ak/V and η increased
once more. This result explains why the P3 curve shows an
initial downward trend followed by an upward trend.
As shown in Fig. 7, Ak/V increased with the gas flow rate,
and η initially increased and then rapidly decreased. The
concentration of CO2 in the NaOH solution and the mixing
intensity improved with increasing gas flow rate. Both of
these factors could accelerate the reaction rate and mass
transfer. As more CO2 was injected into the bath, the excess
gas formed a gas core and escaped from the bath through
this core instead of driving the flow field and reacting with
the NaOH solution. As a result, η decreased.
42 Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater., Vol. 25, No. 1, Jan. 2018

Fig. 6. Variations of Ak/V and η (utilization ratio of CO2) with time at different gas flow rates: (a,b) Q = 6 m3·h−1; (c,d) Q = 9 m3·h−1;
(e,f) Q = 12 m3·h−1.

The blow angle was another factor that influenced mix-

Fig. 7. Variations of the average Ak/V and η (utilization ratio
of CO2) with gas flow rate.
ing and mass transfer in the system, as shown in Figs. 8 and
9. Ak/V and η increased with increasing blow angle from
negative to positive. A negative angle here implies clock-
wise rotation of the PSC, and a positive angle implies anti-
clockwise rotation. As the PSC was rotated clockwise, the
immersion depth of the tuyere increased and the mixing gas
could be injected deeper into the system, thereby improving
the reaction time and volume between the two phases. The
driving force acted over a longer distance and improved the
mixing process; waves and splashing in the bath were also
decreased. Although Ak/V increased with increasing blow
angle, the latter should still be controlled. The results of
X. Zhao et al., Gas–liquid mass transfer and flow phenomena in the Peirce–Smith converter: a water model study 43

Fig. 8. Variations of Ak/V and η(utilization ratio of CO2) with time at different blow angles: (a,b) α = 15; (c,d) α = 0; (e,f) α = 15.
Positive angle is for anticlockwise rotation and negative for clockwise rotation.

high-speed photography indicate that the tuyeres should be

rotated clockwise by less than 10°.

4. Conclusions

(1) The Ak/V and η were calculated by the CO2 absorp-

Fig. 9. Variations of the average Ak/V and η (utilization ratio
of CO2) with blow angle. Positive angle is for anticlockwise ro-
tation and negative for clockwise rotation.
tion method. These indices could be employed to simulate
the industrial process of a PSC and estimate operation con-
ditions.
(2) The mass transfer coefficient increased with increas-
ing gas flow rate and blow angle. Parameter η first increased
and then decreased with increasing gas flow rate, and a cer-
tain amount of the injected gas escaped from the system in-
44
stead of reacting with the NaOH solution in the bath. Al-
though η may be increased by increasing the blow angle,
bubbles could form and gather in the middle of the bath,
slowing down the reaction.
(3) Five regions could be divided in the bath: injection,
strong loop, weak loop, splashing, and dead zone. Mixing
and mass transfer varied in different regions, and the optim-
al flow condition with the most extensive mass transfer was
observed in the strong loop.
Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51504018), the
China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M580986),
and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Uni-
versities (FRF-TP-17-038A2).
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