54 4 Vol154 4

2003 4 Journal of Chemical Industry and Engineering ( China) April 2003

( , 100029)

( , 102200)

, Reynolds ,
. ( ,
) , ,
, Reynolds , , ,
.

TQ 02111

0438 - 1157 ( 2003) 04 - 0543 - 06

CORRELATIONS FOR PREDICTION OF PRESSURE DRO P

AND LIQUID HOLDUP IN LOW AND HIGH PRESSURES TRICKLE BEDS
LIU Naihui , LIU Hui , LI Chengyue and CHEN Biaohua ,
( Ministry of Education Key L ab of Science and Technology of Controllable Chemical Reactions ,
Beijing University of Chemical Technology , Beijing 100029 , China)

XU Chunming
( S tate Key L aboratory of Heavy Oil Processi ng , U niversity of Pet roleum , Beiji ng 102200 , Chi na)

Abstract In t his paper , based on an analysis of t he Ergun equation used for single p hase flow in a packed bed ,
characteristic scales of flow are established for an equivalent representation of gas2liquid two p hase flows in low
and high pressures t rickle beds1 In terms of t he scales and using available data by different aut hors , new
improved correlations for evaluation of two p hase pressure drop and p hase holdups are proposed for porous and
non2porous packings wit h equivalent diameters of 115 6 mm , and for modified Reynolds number f rom 313 to
88 , operation pressures up to 6 M Pa and superficial gas velocities up to 818 cm s - 1 1 The evaluation gives a
mean relative deviation 3518 % for t he two p hase pressure drop , and a mean relative deviation 1112 % for liquid
holdup 1
Keywords t rickle bed , pressure drop , holdup , multip hase flow

2001 - 12 - 17 , 2002 - 03 - 06 1

, [ 1 ] .
,
; ,

Received date : 2001 - 12 - 171

: 1 : , , 30 , 1
: 1

Corre sponding author : Prof . L IU Hui. E - mail : hliu @mail1

buct . edu1cn

5 4 4

2003 4

1
111 Ergun

,
Ergun
U ( 1 - ) 2
U 2 1 -
+ E2
2
3
dp 3

dp

p f ,
p
- pf = + g

( 1)

( 7)

, ( 6 )
, Reynolds
Re

up lp
U dp
= ( 1 - )

( 8)

f =

pf l p
up2

( 9)

( 5 ) , Ergun

3
f = f ( Re )

( 10)

,
, Ergun
[ 10 ] .
112
,
. ,
, ,
, [ 11 ] .
Ergun ,
,
Ergun .
t k , U k , ,

( 2)

t k dp
1-

( 11)

k ukp l kp
k U k dp
k = k ( 1 - )

( 12)

ukp = U k / t k , l kp =

MacDonald Ergun ,

Reynolds

[ 9 ]

( 1 - )
= E1
U dp + E2
1-
3

( 3)

Re k =

, F
-

pf dp
U 2

F=

( 4)

fk =

[9 ]

MacDonald ,
, E1 ( E1 = 180 ) ,

, , E2 118 410
.
( 3 ) ,

dp

1-

= E1
( U/ ) dp + E2
( U/ ) 2 1 -
pf

( 5)

, , up
l p
dp
up = U/ , l p =
1-

( 6)

pkf l kp
k u2kp

( 13)

, Ergun

fk =

pkf l kp
3
= E1 / Re k + E2
l u2kp

2dp
2
=
l
3 ( 1 - )
3 p

dh =

, -

pf = E1

. ,
.

,
, , [ 24 ] .
,
, . ,
Ergun
[ 58 ] , , [ 5 ]
[ 6 ] . , Ergun
, Ergun
. Ergun
, ,
[ 2 ] .

, .

( 14)

f k = f k ( Re k )

( 15)

,
Galileo
3

Ga k =

2k gdp33
2k ( 1 - ) 3

( 14)

( 16)

5 4 5

54 4 :
- pkf

k g = t k

32

E1 Re k
E2 Re k
+
3
Ga k3
Ga k

( 17)

( 17) Holub [ 5 ]
. ,
( ) ,
. ,
,
.

Fig11 Test of present correlation wit h

211 ( )

single p hase database

,
, ,
.
,
, ,
. ( 14)
.
,
137
( 1 ) ,
( - p lf = l g ) Reynolds ,

1. 1 , ,
Reynolds , Ergun
[ 9 ] ( E1 = 180 , E2 = 118 )
, ( ,
)
, Ergun .
307118 ( 10134)
3

Re l

Ergun [ 9 ] ,
. ( 18 ) ,
, 2 2
, .
Table 1 Description of liquid flow database
Data sources
Charpentier

Number of
data points

Systems
spherical and cylindrical catalysts ;
water , cyclohexane , kerosene ,
gasoline petroleum ,ether ,and air

37

and Favier [12 ]

Specchia and
Baldi [13 ]

glass spheres and glass cylinders ,wa2

ter and 29 % ( mass ) glycerol
aqueous solution

17

Levec ,Saez and

Carbonell [7 ]

glass spheres ;water and air

48

Wammes et al 1 [14 ]

glass spheres ; water , ethanol , 40 %

ethylene glycol , and nitrogen

30

Al2Dahhan et al1 [15] hexane and nitrogen ;porous sphere

212

,
fl =

+ 1125 ( 1141)

( 18)

, E1 E2
. , E1 30718 ( 314 %) ,
180 ,
. ( 18 ) , E1
1125 , 118 ,
, . 1 Reynolds
, ,
, .
MacDonald

[ 9 ] .
1 , ( 18) 50 %
, , ,

,
, ( 14 ) .
,
140 , 2 .
: ,
.
Table 2 Statistical tests of proposed correlation for
prediction of liquid holdup ( stagnant gas)
Met hod

Mean rative
deviation/ %

Mean quadratic
deviation/ %

[8 ]

16115

9124

11175

9122

11158

10158

Saez et al .

Spechia et al .

[13 ]

model proposed

5 4 6

2003 4

Table 3 Description of t wo phase flow database

Data sources
Al2Dahhan

Number of
data points

Systems
water and hexane , nitrogen and
helium ; nonporous and porous
spheres , porous extrudate ; reactor
pressure 0131 510 MPa

78

glass spheres ; water and air ; reactor

pressure 211 511 MPa

13

Pironti et al 1 [17 ] cylindrical extrudate ; water and air ;

reactor pressure normal

25

Levec , Saez and glass spheres ; water and air ; reactor

pressure normal
Carbonell [7 ]

Wammes et al. [14] glass sphere ;water ; nitrogen and heli2

um; reactor pressure 0150 610
MPa

15

et al .

[15 ]

Larachi et al. [16]

Fig13 Test of Ergun correlation wit h

gas p hase data in references

, ( 14)
,

( 14)
Reynolds , 2 3.
2 , ( 18 )
Reynolds
, ; 3
, Reynolds
Ergun ( E1 = 180 , E2 =
118) . ,
,
,
.
.

g/ gr
f
k=

fk

( 19)

gr ( 293 K , 11013

gr
-

g
gr

t l

32

307118 Re l

Ga l

- t l

1125 Re l

18010 Reg
3
Gag

Ga l

- 1 l g

32

118 Reg
3
Gag

- 1 g g = 0
( 20)

, k .
, ( 14)
, 140
4 5 .
, .
:
1112 % , 912 % ;

3518 % , 2210 %.
Attou [ 4 ] 3 Al2Dahhan [ 15 ]
Wammes [ 14 ] Larachi [ 16 ]

, :

10 Pa) . 2 3
, ( 19)

1211 % , 818 % ;

4 [ 5 ,14 ,16 ]

2715 % , 1915 %.

l = 0109 , g = 0129

Fig12 Test of present correlation wit h

Fig14 Parity plot for estimation of liquid holdups

liquid p hase data in references

using present correlations

5 4 7

54 4 :

13 % 33 % , 9 % 50 % ,

Ga
Galileo

53 %77 % , 20 %
178 %. , Attou [ 4 ]
,
, [ 4 ] .

l
, m

, ,
, 115610 mm ,
6 MPa , Reynolds 313 88
, 818 cm
s - 11

p
, Pa
Re
Reynolds
U
, ms - 1
u
, ms - 1

, kgm - 3

k
( k = l g)
l

Reference s
1 Al2Dahhan M A , Larachi F , Dudukovic M P , Laurent A. High2
Pressure Trickle Reactors : A Review. I nd 1 Eng1 Chem 1 Res1 ,

Fig15 Parity plot for estimation of pressure drop

using present correlations

2 Larachi F , Iliuta I , Al2Dahhan M A , Dudukovic M P.

Discriminating

Trickle2Flow

Hydrodynamic

Models :

Some

Recommendation. I nd 1 Eng1 Chem 1 Res1 , 2000 , 39 : 554

556

, Reynolds
,
.
, .
( 1)
fl =

1997 , 36 : 3292 3314

307118 ( 10134)
3

Re l

+ 1125 ( 1141)

( 2)

3 Iliuta I , Larachi F , Grandjean B P A. Pressure Drop and Liquid

Holdup in Trickle Flow Reactors : Improved Ergun Constants and
Slip Correlations for t he Slit Model.

I nd 1 Eng1 Chem 1 Res 1 ,

1998 , 37 : 4542 4550

4 Attou

A,

Boyer

C,

Ferschneider

G.

Modeling

of

t he

Hydrodynamics of t he Cocurrent Gas2Liquid Trickle Flow Through

a Trickle2bed Reactor. Chem 1 Eng1 Sci 1 , 1999 , 54 : 785 802
5 Holub R A , Dudukovic M P , Ramachandran P A. Pressure Drop ,
Liquid Holdup , and Flow Regime Transition in Trickle Flow.
A ICh E J 1 , 1993 , 39 : , 302 321

6 Iliuta I , Larachi F , Al2Dahhan M A. Double2Slit Model for

Partially Wetted Trickle Flow Hydrodynamics. A ICh E J 1 , 2000 ,
46 : 597 609

g
gr

g
gr

t l

- t l

Ga l
3

7 Levec J , Saez A E , Carbonell R G.

32

307118 Re l

1125 Re l
Ga l

18010 Reg
3
Gag

- 1 l g -

118 Reg

- 1 g g = 0

3
Gag

f k = E1 / Re k + E2 , f
k= (g / gr ) f

k k

Flow

Through

Packed

The Hydrodynamic of

Beds :

2.

Experimental

Observations. A ICh E J 1 , 1986 , 32 : 369 379

32

Trickling

8 Saez A E , Carbonell R G. Hydrodynamic Parameters for Gas2

Liquid Cocurrent Flow in Packed Beds. A ICh E J 1 , 1985 , 31 :
52 61
9 MacDonald I F , El2Sayed M S , Mow K , Dullien F A L . Flow
Through Porous Media : The Ergun Equation Revisited.

I nd 1

Eng1 Chem 1 Res 1 , 1979 , 18 : 199 208

10 Dai Gance ( ) et al1 Fluid Dynamics in Chemical

d
, m

Engineering1 ( ) . Beijing : Chemical Industry

E1 , E2
Ergun

Press , 1988. 321 331 , 386 440

F
1

11 Rao V G , Drinkenburg A A H. A Model for Pressure Drop in

g
, ms

Two Phase Gas2Liquid Downflow Through Packed Beds. A ICh E

- 2

J 1 , 1985 , 31 : 1010 1018

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2003 4

12 Charpentier I , Favier M. Some Liquid Holdup Experimental Data

in

Trickle2Bed

Reactors

for

Foaming

and

Nonfoaming

Hydrocarbons. A ICh E J 1 , 1975 , 21 : 1213 1218

13 Specchia V , Baldi G. Pressure Drop and Liquid Holdup for Two

Holdup in High Pressure Trickle2Bed Reactors.

Chem 1 Eng1

Sci 1 , 1994 , 49 : 5681 5698

16 Larachi F , Laurent A , Wild G. Experimental Study of a Trickle2

bed Reactor Operating at High Pressure : Two2phase Pressure

Phase Cocurrent Flow in Packed Beds. Chem 1 Eng1 Sci 1 , 1977 ,

Drop and Liquid Saturation.

32 : 515 523

1233 1246

Chem 1 Eng1 Sci 1 , 1991 , 46 :

14 Wammes W J A , Westerterp K R. The Influence of t he Reactor

17 Pironti F , Mizrahi D , Acosta A et al 1Liquid2Solid Wetting Factor

Pressure on t he Hydrodynamics in a Cocurrent Gas2Liquid Trickle2

in Trickle2bed Reactors : Its Determination of Liquid Flow

bed. Chem 1 Eng1 Sci 1 , 1990 , 32 : 2247 2254

Structures. Chem 1 Eng1 Sci 1 , 1999 , 54 : 3793 3800

15 Al2Dahhan M A , Dudukovic M P. Pressure Drop and Liquid

2003 3 2728 ,
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, ,
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, 200 300
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