HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER IN FIXED BEDS

We define local transfer coefficients for a binary fiuid in a packed bed by the relations 

Extensive data on forced convection of gases and liquids through packed beds have been critically analyzed to obtain the following correla- 

Here the Chilton-Colburn j-factors and the Reynolds number Re are defined by 

The exponent in Eqs. (3.2-4,5) is an asymptote given by boundary layer theory for steady laminar flows and for steadily driven turbulent flows. This dependence is consistent with the cited data for values above 0.6 of the Prandtl number Pr = Cpp/k and of the Schmidt number Sc = a/pT ab- 

In the following section we apply these results to multicomponent simulations of fixed-bed reactors. 

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When we started selling molecular sieves, little was known about heat and mass transfer in fixed bed adsorption/desorption. Design was an art. G.J. Griesmer, J.J. Collins, F.W.Leavitt, W.F. Avery, and K. Kiyonaga made it a science, a unit process we understand and can optimize. Griesmer led much of this activity and was primarily responsible for Union Carbide s Iso Sieve process for separating normal from iso paraffins [37]. 

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