HEAT-TRANSFER IN TRICKLE-BED REACTORS

The mechanism of radial heat transfer in two-phase flow through packed beds is examined. A model with 2 parameters: an effective radial thermal conductivity in the bed, ke, and a heat transfer coefficient, hw, at the wall, give a satisfactory interpretation of the radial temperature profile. ke was expressed in terms of a stagnant contribution, due to the heat conduction through the solid and the fluid in the void space, and a radial mixing contribution of the gas and liquid phases, due to the radial component of the velocity of both fluids. The radial mixing contribution of the liquid (ke)L was compared with radial mass dispersion data, and a satisfactory agreement was obtained. Moreover, (ke)L was much higher than the gas mixing and the stagnant contributions. Correlations for hw and (ke)L have been proposed in accordance with the hydrodynamic regimes of the two-phase flow. © 1979, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.