DEVELOPMENT OF TRICKLE-BED HEAT-TRANSFER CORRELATION FOR FLOW MEASUREMENT PROBE

The heat transfer coefficient from a heated pipe in a trickle-bed catalytic reactor was correlated with combined gas and liquid flow rates along with fluid and packing physical properties. The correlation is readily applicable for flow rate measurements in commercial-scale trickle-bed reactors. Data for the correlation were obtained using petroleum distillate liquid fed to a laboratory reactor over a range of temperatures along with hydrogen and nitrogen as gases. Our analysis showed that the heat transfer coefficient data are represented based on the combined thermal mass flux of the fluids plus the effective conductivity of the packed bed. The latter depends on gas, liquid, and solid thermal conductivities, but not significantly on flow rates or flow regime.