ALMUTHANAA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Name of supervisor/DR.Raid Tariq

Name of report/Fluid flow through packed column

Name of student/Eman Najeeb mousa

SUMMARY
As fluid flows through a packed bed it experiences a pressure loss due to
friction. This article describes the use of the Carman-Kozeny and Ergun
equations for the calculation of pressure drop through a randomly packed
.bed of spheres

∗ DEFINITIONS

f* Packed bed friction factor :

g : Gravitational constant ( g = 9.81 m/s)

H : Height of the packed bed (m)

ΔP : Fluidisation pressure drop (Pa)

−ΔP : Pressure drop through the packed bed (Pa

U : Superficial fluid velocity (m/s)

x : Spherical equivalent particle diameter (m)

ϵ : Bed voidage

pf: )Density of the fluid flowing through the packed bed (kg/m3 :

pp)Density of particles in the packed bed (kg/m3 :

μ : Viscosity of the fluid flowing through the packed bed (Pa.s)

INTRODUCTION
As a fluid passes through a packed bed it experiences pressure loss due
to factors such as friction. The relationships required to predict the
pressure drop for a fluid flowing through a packed bed have been known
for some time, with Darcy observing in 1896 that the laminar flow of
water through a bed of sand was governed by the following relationship
-∆pl/H α U

This relationship was initially analysed in terms of the Hagen-Poiseuille

equation for laminar flow through a tube and was later formulated as
the Carman-Kozeny equation for pressure drop for laminar flow through
a packed bed in 1937. The following sections present the Carman-
Kozeny equation and subsequently Ergun's general equation for the
.pressure drop through a randomly packed bed of spheres

Packed column
In chemical processing, a packed bed is a hollow tube, pipe, or other
vessel that is filled with a packing material. The packing can be randomly
filled with small objects like Raschig rings or else it can be a specifically
designed structured packing. Packed beds may also contain catalyst
particles or adsorbents such as zeolite pellets, granular activated carbon,
.etc

The purpose of a packed bed is typically to improve contact between

two phases in a chemical or similar process. Packed beds can be used in
a chemical reactor, a distillation process, or a scrubber, but packed beds
have also been used to store heat in chemical plants. In this case, hot
gases are allowed to escape through a vessel that is packed with a
refractory material until the packing is hot. Air or other cool gas is then
fed back to the plant through the hot bed, thereby pre-heating the air or
.gas feed
Column structure: random and stacked packed columns Edit
The column can be filled with random dumped packing (creating a
random packed column) or with structured packing sections, which are
arranged or stacked (creating a stacked packed column). In the column,
liquids tend to wet the surface of the packing and the vapors pass across
this wetted surface, where mass transfer takes place. Packing material
can be used instead of trays to improve separation in distillation
columns. Packing offers the advantage of a lower pressure drop across
the column (when compared to plates or trays), which is beneficial while
operating under vacuum. Differently shaped packing materials have
different surface areas and void space between the packing. Both of
.these factors affect packing performance

Liquid and vapor distribution (vapor to liquid ratio) Edit

Another factor in performance, in addition to the packing shape and
surface area, is the liquid and vapor distribution that enters the packed
bed. The number of theoretical stages required to make a given
separation is calculated using a specific vapor to liquid ratio. If the liquid
and vapor are not evenly distributed across the superficial tower area as
it enters the packed bed, the liquid to vapor ratio will not be correct and
the required separation will not be achieved. The packing will appear to
not be working properly. The height equivalent to a theoretical plate
(HETP) will be greater than expected. The problem is not the packing
itself but the mal-distribution of the fluids entering the packed bed.
These columns can contain liquid distributors and redistributors which
help to distribute the liquid evenly over a section of packing, increasing
the efficiency of the mass transfer.[1] The design of the liquid
distributors used to introduce the feed and reflux to a packed bed is
.critical to making the packing perform at maximum efficiency

LAMINAR FLOW THROUGH A PACKED BED

The pressure drop for laminar fluid flow through a randomly packed bed
of monosized spheres with diameter xx may be calculated using the
Carman-Kozeny equation as follows:

-∆p/H =180µU(1-ε /X

TURBULENT FLOW THROUGH A PACKED BED

The pressure drop for turbulent flow through a packed bed may be
calculated from the turbulent component of the Ergun equation
:(discussed in section 5) as presented below

-∆p/H =1.75pf (1-ε)/X

GENERAL EQUATION FOR PRESSURE DROP -

THROUGH A PACKED BED
Ergun (1952), using a extensive set of experimental data covering a wide
range of particle size and shapes, presented a general equation to
calculate the pressure drop across a packed bed for all flow conditions
(laminar to turbulent). This equation is commonly referred to as the
Ergun equation for flow through a randomly packed bed of spheres and
:takes the following form

-∆p/H =180µU(1-ε / +1.75pf (1-ε)/x

The Ergun equation combines both the laminar and turbulent
components of the pressure loss across a packed bed. In laminar flow
conditions the first component of the equation dominates with the
Ergun equation essentially reducing to the Carman-Koreny equation
presented in Section 3, although with a slight variation in the constants
used due to variations in the experimental data with which the
correlations was developed. In the laminar region the pressure drop
through the packed bed is independent of fluid density and has a linear
.relationship with superficial velocity

Under turbulent flow conditions the second component of the Ergun

equation dominates. Here the pressure drop increases with the square
of the superficial velocity and has a linear dependence on the density of
.the fluid passing through the bed

Calculating a Packed Bed Friction Factor

The Ergun equation may also be expressed through the use of a packed
bed friction factor in a similar manner to how pressure drop is calculated
for fluid flow in a pipe with the Darcy friction factor. The packed bed
friction factor may be calculated using the packed bed Reynolds number
as follows

F*=150/Re*+1.75
The Ergun equation may then be calculated using the packed bed friction
:factor as expressed below

-∆p/H =f*pf (1-ε)/X

PACKED BED OF NON-SPHERICAL PARTICLES
Although the Ergun equation was constructed for mono-sized spherical
particles, pressure drop can still be calculated for randomly packed non-
spherical particles using the spherical equivalent particle diameter
x_{SV}x

SV

the diameter of a sphere having the same surface area to volume (

ratio as the non-spherical particle). Here the Ergun equation becomes

-∆p/H =150µU(1-ε / +1.75pf (1-ε)/x

Alternatively if the particles in the packed bed are not mono-sized the
surface-volume mean diameter xSV

should be used in place of the spherical equivalent particle diameter ,

xSV
Refrance
Seader, J.D. & Henley, Ernest J. (2006). Separation Process Principles
.(2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sonstahm. ISBN 0-471-46480-5

Fogler, H. Scott (2006). Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering (4th

.ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-047394-4