Trickle-bed columns pulsing

Hydrodynamics and Mass Transfer in Pulsing Trickle-Bed Columns... 

Trickling and Pulsing Transition in Cocurrent Downflow Trickle-Bed Reactors with Special Reference to Large-Scale Columns... 

A model is presented to predict flow transition between trickling and pulsing flow in cocurrent downflow trickle-bed reactors. Effects of gas and liquid flow rates, particle size, and pressure on the transition are studied. Comparison of theory with published transition data from pilot-scale reactors shows good agreement. Since the analysis is independent of reactor size, calculations are extended to include large-scale columns some interesting observations concerning flow transition and liquid holdup are obtained. 

In this paper correlations presented by Sato et al. for liquid holdup and pressure drop in trickle bed reactors were used to examine the characteristics of large-scale columns. The trickling-pulsing transition relationship given by Ng was also employed to determine the flow regime present. Some interesting phenomena were observed, specifically ... 

In this paper, a model for predicting trickling-pulsing transition, as proposed by Ng (6), is extended to include large-size columns. Preliminary calculations of pressure drop and holdup as a function of bed height indicate several interesting features associated with large-scale reactors. 

In spite of the widespread use of fixed-bed reactors, much remains to be done to define the dynamics of the reactor [30], Most of these reactors are operated in the concurrent mode at which the gas and the liquid both flow from the top to the bottom. A number of flow regimes have been distinguished for packed columns in downflow operation [31, 32], Based on the Reynolds number for liquid and gas flows, the flow regimes include (i) trickle flow, (ii) pulsed flow, (iii) dispersed bubble flow, (iv) wavy flow, and (v) spray flow (Figure 12.7) [17]. In general, countercurrent flows lead to much larger pressure drops across the bed, and this would be the case for FTS. Thus, the countercurrent flow mode is not used in today s plants. 

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