HYDRODYNAMICS AND GAS-LIQUID-SOLID INTERFACIAL PARAMETERS OF CO-CURRENT DOWNWARD TWO-PHASE FLOW IN TRICKLE-BED REACTORS

Design of trickle-fixed bed reactors requires knowledge of the hydrodynamics of two-phase co-current downward flow through fixed porous catalytic media and interfacial parameters. Unfortunately, most of the published papers deal exclusively with the hydrodynamics of an air-water system and the determination of gas-liquid-solid interfacial parameters in highly ionic solutions. In this paper, we present some experimental results on the hydrodynamics, pressure drop, liquid holdup, different flow patterns, gas-liquid interfacial areas and liquid-side mass transfer coefficients for organic non-viscous and viscous liquids and liquid-solid mass transfer coefficients with different packings: glass heads (d(p) = 1.16 x 10(-3) m and 4 x 10(-3) m), spherical catalyst (d(p) = 2.4 x 10(-3) m) and glass Raschig rings (d(p) = 6.48 x 10(-3) m). Comparison between our values and correlations in the literature will be discussed.