Chemical Engineering and Processing 37 (1998) 331 341

Hydrodynamics of cocurrent xed-bed three-phase reactors. Part I. The effect of physicochemical properties of the liquid on pulse velocity
G. Bartelmus *, A. Gancarczyk, M. Stasiak
*tycka 5, 44 -100 Gliwice, Poland Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Chemical Engineering, ul. Bal Received 20 January 1998; received in revised form 9 March 1998; accepted 9 March 1998

Abstract The objective of the present study is to evaluate parameters that characterise the pulsing ow regime in a packed column operating with the cocurrent downow of the gas and liquid phases. The paper presents the results of experiments aimed at determining the effect of the physicochemical properties of the liquid phase and the packing size on the velocity of liquid pulses travelling along the bed. These results are correlated and compared with the available literature data. 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Liquid pulses; Three-phase reactors; Pulsing ow regime

1. Introduction Three-phase reactors in which the liquid and gas phases ow down a xed catalytic bed are termed trickle-bed reactors. This type of reactor is employed on an industrial scale in the processes of hydrogenation and hydrodesulphurisation of the various petroleum fractions, as well as in the oxidation of organic pollutants in waste waters and ue gases via reactions occurring over a bed of immobilised bacteria (the so-called trickling lters). However, the information on the possibility of using three-phase xed-bed reactors to carry out chemical syntheses is relatively scarce. In the monographs dealing with trickle-bed reactors [1,2] a number of advantages of the xed-bed vessels are pointed out. They all enable continuous operation, do not require ltration of the disintegrated catalyst, safeguard a high conversion degree of liquid reactants (as the ow of the liquid phase is close to the plug ow) and, since no ooding occurs in these reactors, they allow high ow rates of the phases to be used. Depending on the ow rates of the two phases, their physicochemical properties and the geometry and size of the packing, various
* Corresponding author. Tel.: + 48 32 310811; fax: + 48 32 310318. 0255-2701/98/$19.00 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved. PII S0255-2701(98)00036-1

ow patterns can be observed of which two are of considerable industrial importance: the gas-continuous ow regime and the pulsing ow regime. In the gas-continuous ow regime the liquid ows down the column over the packing surface as rivulets or a thin lm, whereas the gas passes through the remaining free volume of the bed. Since this regime occurs at relatively low ow rates of the two phases, a part of the packing can be left unwetted. The degree of wetting of the external catalyst surface has, however, a crucial effect on the intensity of the process, as it alters the conditions of transport of the reactants to the catalyst surface where adsorption and chemical reactions take place. The pulsing ow regime appears when the liquid ow rate exceeds a certain limiting value at which channels, so far open to the gas phase, begin to be blocked by the liquid. When the whole cross-section of the reactor becomes obstructed, a liquid plug begins to travel along the bed. This regime is especially attractive in the processes of mass and heat transfer as the experimental values of the transfer coefcients are by far larger than those in the gas-continuous ow regime; moreover, perfect wetting of the packing surface is observed. The rst pulses always appear in the lower part of the bed since, due to the pressure drop, the effective gas

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velocity in the bottom section of the reactor is higher than that at the top of the column. An increase in either gas or liquid ow rate moves the pulsing zone further up the bed. The pulsing ow is perceived by the observer as alternate ows of portions rich in liquid and rich in gas. Obviously, the gas-rich portion is by no means totally devoid of the liquid phase, while the liquid-rich fraction contains a certain number of gas bubbles, especially in the end section of the liquid plug. During its travel along the bed, the plug gets rid of a part of the liquid at the rear, and takes in fresh portions at the front. Consequently, the size of the plug remains virtually constant. Most of the experimental studies concerned with the pulsing ow of uids through a bed of solid particles yield the time-averaged values of the pressure drop, liquid hold-up as well as mass and heat transfer coefcients [3]. However, for the rigorous modelling of the pulsing ow it is necessary to know the parameters that characterise the ow, namely the frequency of pulsations, the velocity of the pulses and their structure, i.e. the size of the gas-rich and liquid-rich sections [4,5]. In the available literature there are only a few studies that deal with the parameters characterising the pulsing ow of uids through a bed of small particles. The rst investigations were conducted by Weekman and Meyers [6], Beimesch and Kessler [7] and Sato et al. [8]. Later, signicant contribution was provided by the papers of Blok and Drinkenburg [9], Rao and Drinkenburg [10], Helwick et al. [11], Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] and Reinecke and Mewes [13]. Table 1 shows the essential experimental data taken from the above studies (experimental systems, properties of the packing, measurement techniques and the correlation equations proposed). The table does not include the data

Fig. 1. Scheme of experimental set-up. 1nitrogen humidier, 2 gasliquid separator, 3 nitrogen cylinder, 4gas ow meters, 5 packed zone, 6 pressure transmitters, 7conductivity cells, 8pressure transmitters, 9 data acquisition, 10liquid tank, 11 liquid owmeters, 12 liquid pump, 13thermostat.

concerning the cocurrent ow of the gas and liquid phases through dumped packings in rectangular columns [14], or in the so-called two-dimensional packed columns [15,16], as the structure of such packings differs too much from that in circular columns. As can be seen from Table 1, the experimental data are rather scarce; moreover, in a number of cases the results only lead to qualitative assessment of the phenomenon. All the studies were performed for systems which included water as the liquid phase. Thus, based on these results, it is impossible to estimate the parameters characterising the pulsing ow of liquids differing from water in physicochemical properties, i.e. of the liquids most frequently used in industrial practice. The effect of the packing diameter on the characteristic parameters has not been studied either. Although in references [9] and [10] the geometry and size of the packing and the parameters that characterise the bed were included in the correlation equations, the subsequent studies of Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] did not corroborate the relationship derived in [10]. The major objective of the present work is, therefore, to determine the parameters which characterise the pulsing ow of the gas and liquid through a bed, namely the frequency of pulsation, the velocity of the pulse front and the structure of the pulse, i.e. the size of the liquid-rich and gas-rich zones. These parameters were determined for water as well as for liquids differing from water in their physicochemical properties (especially in viscosity and surface tension). The studies were performed for two sizes of the pellets in the reactor, and thus enabled the effect to be estimated of the packing diameter on the parameters analysed. In the present study the attention is focused on the measurement of the velocity of the pulses that are being formed in the column. The literature data concerning this parameter will, therefore, be discussed in more detail. Weekman and Myers [6] have found that the pulse velocity increases with an increase in the ow rates of the two phases, with the gas ow rate exhibiting much stronger inuence. In contrast to these results, Sato et al. [8] show that the pulse velocity varies from 0.65 ms 1 to 0.8 ms 1 and depends only slightly on the ow rates of the phases. Blok and Drinkenburg [9] and Rao and Drinkenburg [10] have not found any noticeable effect of the liquid ow rate upon the pulse velocity. They conclude that it is the real gas velocity, i.e. Vgr = Ug/(m mLt), that determines the pulse velocity. If the pulses are formed at a relatively low gas velocity (Vgr B 0.5 ms 1), then the velocity of the pulse front is equal to the real gas velocity. At higher gas velocities, the velocity of the pulses becomes lower than the real velocity of the gas phase, which is indicative of the channelling of the

Table 1 Literature data pertaining to parameters that characterise the pulsing ow regime Packing diameter dp (mm) Glass spheres; 4 Aluminium spheres; 6.3 Aluminium spheres; 6.5 Glass pellets; 4.7 Glass spheres; 8.01 Glass *RR; 2.5, 4.0 5 6.58 Vp = 0.65 } 0.8 fp d 0.5 p 10 Glass *RR; 6.0 glass spheres; 3.0 5 Vp = Vgr [0.48+(308m d 0.78 p 0.59)Vgr] 0.45Vgr * *54 [ms1] 0.0057BULB0.0188 [ms1] Polished acrylic spheres; 3.18 Glass spheres; 6.0 7.62 14 a) Vp = 1.03V 0.79 gr 1+0.76V 1.27 gr (1+25.4UL) b) (Vp/Vgr) = 0.625(ReL/Reg)0.61 0.4BV * gr**B1.5 [ms1] 0.011BULB0.025 [ms1] Ceramic spheres (Celcore); 5.3 12 333 fp10 b) Vgr a) fp = 2.13+2.87Ug 0.07BUgB0.33 [ms1] ULU 0.265 g =A B 0.265 md 0.5 p a A = 1800; B = 58 7.5 7.5 Column diameter Dk102 (m) Correlation equation V p (ms1) Correlation equation fp (s1)

Authors

Experimental system

Measurement technique

Weekman, Myers [6]

Airwater

Optical

Beimesch, Kessler [7]

Airwater

Conductometric

Sato et al. [8]

Airwater

Conductometric, optical, measurement of pressure uctuations

Blok, Drinkenburg [9]

Airwater

Conductometric

Rao, Drinkenburg [10]

Air water

Conductometric

Helwick et al. [11]

Airwater

Measurement of pressure uctuations, video recording

G. Bartelmus et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 37 (1998) 331341

Tsochatzidis, Karabelas [12]

Airwater

Conductometric, measurement of pressure uctuations

0.57

= 0.629

 
ReL * Reg *

Reinecke, Mewes [13]

Air water

Tomography

* RR Raschig rings; ** mLt determined from [10]; *** mLt determined from [12].

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Fig. 2. Delay (D) between two signals (A) and a peak in the cross-correlation function (B) resulting from (D). System nitrogen ethanol solution (v = 20.1 10 4 Pas; z = 971 kg m 3; | = 0.0369 N m 1); (dp = 1.5 mm, Ug = 0.157 ms 1, UL = 0.00372 ms 1).

pulses by the gas. This phenomenon has also been observed by Beimesch and Kessler [7] and Reinecke and Mewes [13]. According to the studies of Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12], at a high real gas velocity the pulse velocity is lower than Vgr whereas, as can be seen from the graph presented in [12], for Vgr B 0.8 ms 1 the pulse velocity is considerably higher than Vgr. These authors compared their own results with the values of the pulse velocity calculated using the correlation derived by Rao and Drinkenburg [10] (Item 5 in Table 1); the values thus obtained were much lower than those found experimentally. This seems to suggest that the correlation does not properly allow for the effect of the packing size on Vp.

Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] have found the inuence of the ow rates of the two phases on the pulse velocity, and include this effect in their correlation (Item 7 in Table 1). For UL B 0.011 ms 1 the effect of the liquid ow rate can be neglected. In ref. [13] the pulse velocity was determined for the varying velocity of the liquid, at Ug = 0.13 ms 1. Over the whole range of liquid ow rates, Vp was found to be 0.75 ms 1. It may, therefore, be concluded that there are not enough experimental data concerning the problem in question; moreover, the various studies differ even in the qualitative description of the phenomenon, although only the system airwater was investigated.

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2. Experimental Set-Up and Measurement Technique The experimental installation is shown schematically in Fig. 1. Its main part is a Perspex column 5 10 2 m

Fig. 4. Comparison of experimental data obtained using conductivity method (open symbols) and optical method (solid symbols). System: nitrogen ethanol solution (v = 20.1 10 4 Pas; z = 971 kg m 3; | = 0.0369 N m 1); dp = 1.5 mm.

Fig. 3. Variation of pulse velocity with gas and liquid Reynolds numbers (open symbols dp = 1.5 mm; solid symbols dp = 3 mm). (mLt determined from the correlation proposed by Ellman et al. [28]) A. System: nitrogen water; B. System: nitrogenethanol solution (v = 20.1 10 4 Pas; z = 971 kg m 3; | = 0.0369 N m 1) (at 21C); C. System: nitrogen glycerol solution I (v = 24.9 10 4 Pas; z = 1078 kg m 3; | = 0.0717 N m 1) (at 21C); D. System: nitrogenglycerol solution II (v = 46.5 10 4 Pas; z = 1116 kg m 3; | = 0.0673 N m 1)(at 21C).

in diameter and 1.5 m long. Exchangeable segments in the lower part of the column make it possible to insert electrodes and pressure gauges into the bed, and to mount a millimetre scale used in lming the packing. The gas (nitrogen), supplied from a cylinder (3), was thermostated and saturated in a scrubber (1), demisted in (2) and, via a system of calibrated rotameters (4), fed into a distributor. The gas was supplied onto the packing through nine tubes 5 mm in diameter, while the liquid was fed via 12 tubes of diameter 5 mm each. The solutions were prepared in a tank (10) and thermostated in a thermostat (13) at a temperature equal to the gas temperature ( 9 0.5C). After the desired temperature was reached the solution, through a system of rotameters (11) calibrated separately for each of the solutions, was fed to a distributor which distributed the liquid evenly over the packing. The packing was made up of glass spheres 3 mm and 1.5 mm in diameter, porosity 0.38 and 0.372, and a specic surface of 1240 m 1 and 2512 m 1, respectively (the packing dp = 5 mm was used only in the optical method). The gas phase was nitrogen, while the liquid phase was water, aqueous solutions of ethanol or, alternatively, aqueous solutions of glycerol. The solutions used differed in density, viscosity and surface tension, thus making it possible to evaluate the effect of these parameters upon the quantities measured (vL = (9.855) 10 4 Pas; |L = (35.472.4) 10 3 N m 1; zL = 9711123 kg m 3). In order to determine the velocity at which the pulses travel along the bed two techniques were used, namely an optical method and conductometry. In the former technique a section of the bed about 350 mm long was lmed using a Sony video camera (CCD-V6000E), at a speed of 20 exposures per second. The column wall was tted with a millimetre scale to measure the distance covered by a pulse. To provide better contrast, the solution was dyed blue with xylene cyanole FF. The image recorded on a video tape was replayed on the

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Fig. 5. Comparison of the values of liquid hold-up for the pulsing ow regime calculated from the various correlations. System: nitrogen water; dp = 3 mm (open symbolsReL = 35; solid symbolsReL = 110). [12]; 2 [18];  [23];  [24];  [25]; [26]; [28].

monitor of a computer equipped with an AVER 2000 graphic card, and was analysed using the image analysis software package MULTISCAN v. 4.01. In the conductometric method the quantity measured was the variation in conductivity of the two-phase gas liquid mixture owing through the bed, in liquidrich and gas-rich portions. In the bed itself, at distances of 0.8 m and 0.9 m from the column top two conductometric cells were placed. Each of these cells, as in refs. [9] and [10], consisted of two pieces of platinum wire gauze, of diameter equal to that of the column. The cells were carefully screened and supplied independently with the alternating current of frequency 5 kHz. The signals from the cells were sampled with a frequency of

100 Hz at 16 s intervals and stored in the computer memory. At least ve sets of data were taken for the analysis. At an initial stage of the experiments the pulse velocity was determined by measuring the shift in signals produced by the two electrodes for several dozen selected pulses. Next, the following procedure was developed. After calculating the mean value and variance, discrete sequences of data stored in the computer memory were normalised to yield the mean value and the variance equal to zero and unity, respectively (standardisation of random variable). Based on the normalised sequences of the data from the conductometric cells a plot of cross-correlation function of the two signals was prepared [17]. The correlogram showed a distinct maximum (Fig. 2), and the time corresponding to this maximum (termed the signal delay time D) is the time interval required by a pulse to cover the distance between the upper and lower conductometric cells. It has to be stressed that the two methods for determining the shift in the signal gave similar results. 3. Experimental Results In Fig. 3AD the measured pulse velocities vs. Reynolds number of the two phases are shown for the four systems studied and for two packing diameters. It is worth noting that the two measurement techniques yield the pulse velocities that do not differ by more than a few percent for the corresponding runs; this is illustrated in Fig. 4 for a system nitrogenethanol solution. As the diagrams reveal, for all the systems

Fig. 6. The values of dynamic liquid hold-up for dp = 3 mm (Reg = 34.3). water; ethanol solution;---glycerol solution I;---glycerol solution II;  [12];  [18];  [23]; [28]; (physicochemical properties of solutions as in Fig. 3).

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Fig. 7. The values of dynamic liquid hold-up for dp = 1.5 mm (open symbols Reg : 10; solid symbols Reg : 30); water; ethanol solution;---glycerol solution I;  [12];  [18];  [23]; [28] (physicochemical properties of solutions as in Fig. 3).

investigated the velocity increased with an increase in both liquid and gas ow rates, although at high gas ow rates the pulse velocity began to stabilise. The velocity at which the pulses travel through the bed is undoubtedly related with the real rather than supercial velocities of the gas and liquid [8 10,12]. It is, therefore, necessary to evaluate the liquid hold-up, as Vgr = Ug /(m mLt ) VLr = UL /mLt (1) (2)

It seems that if only we have correct values of the hold-up, then the pulse velocity for all the systems studied should t a common correlation, Vp = f(Vgr), as the varying physicochemical properties of the liquid (and, consequently, the change in the hydrodynamic conditions through the bed) are incorporated into the values of the parameter mLt.

3.1. Liquid hold -up in the pulsing ow regime The liquid hold-up in the bed limits the cross-sectional area available for the gas ow and consequently increases the real gas velocity and the pressure drop across the packing. There are a number of studies in which the liquid hold-up in three-phase reactors was determined experimentally. These studies have been summarised in references [3,18]. It can be seen that the authors propose two types of correlation: 1. an equation that describes the variation in the liquid hold-up via the Lockhart Martinelli parameter (this necessitates the knowledge of the gas pressure drop in the vessel) [8,19 21], 2. an equation describing the change in either total or dynamic liquid hold-up by means of dimensionless numbers which characterise the uid ow and the

physicochemical properties of the uid and solid phases [12,18,2228]. In the present study the latter type of correlation was selected; the values of mLd thus calculated are shown in Fig. 5 for the system nitrogenwater and dp = 3 mm. It can be seen from the above comparison that even in the case of water as a liquid phase the values of mLd estimated using the correlations proposed by the various authors can differ by as much as 100%. These authors also have differing opinions as to the effect of the gas and liquid ow rates, physicochemical properties of the two phases and the packing diameter upon the liquid hold-up (Figs. 6 and 7). Blok et al. [26] and Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] nd that, in the pulsing ow regime, mLd depends solely on the gas velocity and the parameters characterising the bed (the effect of the physicochemical properties of the liquid phase was not studied). On the other hand, Sai and Varma [18], Ellman et al. [28] and Specchia and Baldi [23] show that it is both the velocity and the physicochemical properties of the liquid that also have effect on the hold-up. Since, in the present study, liquids of different physicochemical properties were used, the attention was nally focused on correlations proposed by Sai and Varma [18] and Ellman et al. [28]. The correlation derived by Sai and Varma [18] allows for the physicochemical properties of the liquid studied via dimensionless parameters in which these properties are related to those of pure water, and has the following form: SLd = A as1/3

      
ReL Reg
1/3

|W |L

vL vW

0.5

zL zW

0.2

(3)

where: for foaming systems: A = 0.245; b = 0.8 for non-foaming systems: A = 0.325; b = 0.1 for the system airwater only:

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Fig. 8. Variation of the pulse velocity with the real liquid and gas velocities (open symbols dp = 1.5 mm; solid symbols dp = 3 mm); (mLt determined from the correlation proposed by Ellman et al. [28]); (physicochemical properties of solutions as in Fig. 3); A. System: nitrogen water; B. System: nitrogen ethanol solution; C. System: nitrogenglycerol solution I; D. System: nitrogen glycerol solution II.
/3 mLt = 0.34
m a 1 s

 
ReL Reg

1/5

(4)

Unfortunately, Sai and Varmas correlation yields very high values of the liquid hold-up (see Figs. 6 and 7), especially for the packing 1.5 mm in diameter. In consequence, unreasonably large real gas velocities are obtained for the system nitrogen water (dp = 1.5 mm), which makes it impossible to correlate the experimental results for this diameter in the form of the relation Vp = f(Vgr, VLr). Finally, the value of the liquid hold-up was calculated using the correlation derived by Ellman et al. [28]: SLd = 10k where k = 0.001 and
0.25 0.25 x = 0.5 We0.2 L ReL L (ap dh)

nitude, whereas for the two glycerol solutions, I and II, the relative magnitude of the values of mLd estimated using the correlations discussed varies with packing diameter. For dp = 3 mm Ellman et al.s [28] equation leads to higher, and for dp = 1.5 mm to lower values of mLd than those evaluated based on ref. [18]. The data interpreted employing real ow rates of the two phases have, therefore, to be treated with great caution, as the relations developed hold only for the specic values of mLt used in the derivation.

3.2. Correlation of the experimental results

Fig. 8AD show the measurement results as a relation Vp = f(Vgr, VLr), with the real velocities of the two phases calculated using the correlation of Ellman et al. [28] to evaluate mLt. The analysis of these gures shows that only in few cases (e.g. Fig. 8D, dp = 3 mm) is the effect of the liquid ow rate on the pulse velocity incorporated in the liquid hold-up. For most of the measurement data presented, the inuence of the liquid ow rate on the pulse velocity cannot be neglected in the correlation equation. In looking for the best form of the formula correlating all the experimental systems studied it is found that the highest correlation coefcient (0.932) is obtained for the following relation

(5)

0.16 x 0.65

(6)

L =

    
L G zg zL
0.55

(7) (8)

vL vg

0.1

For water, the correlation proposed by Ellman et al. [28] gives the values of mLd much lower than those yielded by the relationship of Sai and Varma [18]. The results for ethanol are of the same order of mag-

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339

Fig. 9. Comparison of the experimental and predicted (Eq. (9)) values of the velocity of the pulses; (open symbols dp = 1.5 mm; solid symbols dp = 3 mm);  water;  glycerol solution I; glycerol solution II;  ethanol solution; (physicochemical properties of solutions as in Fig. 3).

Vp =

Vgr V 0.3098 Lr 0.2139 + (66.7 dp + 0.1104)Vgr

(9)

 

which, with an error less than 15%, approximates 92% of the 325 experimental points (Fig. 9). The highest discrepancies between the values of Vp predicted from Eq. (9) and those determined experimentally occur for the already mentioned experimental series (nitrogenglycerol II, dp = 3 mm), and a couple of runs associated with relatively low liquid ow rates. For these runs the pulsation has not yet spread onto the whole length of the column, covering only the bottom part of the bed. These slightly different hydrodynamic conditions prevailing in the column lead to the fact that the values of Vp determined experimentally are somewhat lower than those predicted by Eq. (9). Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] have proposed a dimensionless equation which correlates their experimental data (Item 7b in Table 1). If the data obtained in the present study are correlated using this type of equation, the following formula is obtained: Vp [0.0172 + 60.608 dp] = 1.065 Reg Re0.1272 L Vgr (10)

The correlation coefcient for Eq. (10) is R = 0.906. Eq. (10) correlates 90% of the experimental data with error less than 15%. In this study a separate series of measurements was made for the packing diameter 5 mm, using the optical method. These measurements were not taken into account in deriving the correlation Eq. (9), as the

ratio Dk/dp = 10 was too low. This equation was, however, used to evaluate Vp, to nd out whether in could successfully be used for this particular packing diameter. The values of Vp thus calculated were lower than those found experimentally by a few per cent. The same conclusion is reached when the values of Vp predicted from Eq. (9) are compared with those estimated based on the correlation of Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] derived for the packing diameter dp = 6 mm. Unfortunately, we do not have enough experimental data to derive a correlation that would also hold for these packing diameters. In Fig. 10 the pulse velocities measured in the present study are compared with those determined by the various authors. The comparison is made for two liquid velocities (UL = 0.011 ms 1 and 0.025 ms 1); this corresponds to the range of liquid ow rates investigated in ref. [12]. In the study of Rao and Drinkenburg [10], the liquid velocity did not exceed 0.0188 ms 1. The gure also shows the experimental values as determined in the present work using the optical method, for the packing diameter dp = 5 mm. It is seen from Fig. 10 that, for UL = 0.011 ms 1, the values of Vp found in this work are by a few per cent larger than those predicted by the correlation of Rao and Drinkenburg [10] (the measurement technique employed in our study was analogous to that proposed by these authors). For the packing diameter dp = 5 mm, our results agree with those of Tsochatzidis and Karabelas [12] for dp = 6 mm, and Weekman and Myers [6] for dp = 4.75 mm.

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Fig. 10. Comparison of the pulse velocities obtained in the present work with the results of other studies. 1 [10]; 2 [6] (UL = 0.0136 ms 1); [12];  this work (optical method, dp = 3 mm);  this work (conductivity method, dp = 3 mm);  this work (optical method, dp = 5 mm); (open symbols UL = 0.01 ms 1; solid symbols UL = 0.025 ms 1).

4. Conclusions The experimental results obtained in this study show that the pulse velocity is a function of both the real velocities of the two phases and the packing size. This dependence has been included in the correlation Eq. (9). It should be stressed that it is necessary to validate the relations which describe the variation of the liquid hold-up with both the physicochemical properties of the uids and the packing type. As the available literature data lead to widely divergent values of this parameter, each formula of the type Vp = f(Vgr, VLr) should be regarded as valid only for the specic correlation for mLt, used in the derivation.

l0 = 0.3 m Re = dpUz /m Re* SLd U Vr Vp We = dpU2z /| Greek letters m mL m z | Subscripts d g L t w

characteristic length Reynolds number Reynolds numbers based on real phase velocities dynamic liquid saturation supercial velocity of phase (m s1) real velocity of phase (m s1) pulse velocity (m s1) Weber number

Appendix A. Nomenclature a ap = Sp/Vp specic packing surface (m2m3) specic area of particle (surface of particle/volume of particle) (m2m3) specic surface area of bed (mm1)
0.33

packing porosity liquid hold-up (m3/m3) viscosity (kg m1 s1) density (kg m3) surface tension (N m1)

as

dh = Dk dp fp G L

16m 3 9P(1m )2

dynamic gas phase liquid phase total water

dp

hydraulic diameter (m) column diameter (m) particle diameter (m) frequency of pulsation (s 1) supercial mass ow rate of gas (kg m2 s1) supercial mass ow rate of liquid (kg m2 s1) References
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