Modelling of the hydrodynamics of concurrent gas and liquid flow through packed bed

The aim of the present study is to simulate concurrent gas and liquid flow through packed bed in the gas continuous flow regime (GCF) and continuity shock waves regime(CSW) using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The application of multiple gas-liquid-solid model requires the knowledge of relationships determining interactions between phases. The exchange coefficients of these forces were defined by means of equations suggested by ATTOU et al. (1999). As a result of the computational simulation the following data were obtained: gas pressure drop in the bed, volume fraction distribution of a given phase (liquid and gas holdups) along the packing and its mean value in the reactor. The comparison of the values of the hydrodynamic parameters, both calculated and obtained experimentally in a column packed with 3 mm glass spheres, indicates that CFD model can be applied to model the hydrodynamics of concurrent gas and liquid flows through a packed bed because a good compatibility of the compared parameters was obtained.