Parameters characterising the pulsing flow for cocurrent flow of gas and foaming liquid in a pressurised trickle-bed reactor
Advancing the chemical engineering fundamentals
Multifase Flows (T2-5P)
Keywords: Trickle-bed reactor, Multiphase flow, Foaming systems
Trickle-bed reactors are commonly used in the branches of industry where great streams of substrates are processed (among others in petrochemical and kerosene industries). Foaming is a very common phenomenon occurring in many industrial processes. So far very little has been learned about the hydrodynamics of cocurrent flow of gas and foaming liquid through a fine packing bed and scant literature data often provide only qualitative observations concerning the behaviour of systems in case foaming occurs.
The aim of the present work was to experimentally determine the parameters characterizing the pulse flow of liquids through bed i.e. the frequency of pulsation and the velocity of pulses travelling along the bed and next to work out the correlation equations enabling their assessment.
The research was carried out in a pressure reactor (pressures up to 2 MPa) having 0.05 m in diameter and being 1.5 m long. Physicochemical properties of the gas and liquid phases were changed in the research and the concentrations of water solutions of aliphatic alcohols were chosen in such a way so that the systems would form foams of various lifetime as a result of their contact with the gas in packing. The method of measuring the changes in conductivity of the two-phase gas-liquid mixture flowing through bed was used to determine the parameters characterizing the liquid pulse flow.
The experimental data which were obtained as a result of the research were correlated depending on the operational parameters of the reactor and physicochemical properties of gas and liquid phases. Definite influence of the ability to form weak and strong foams on the research results was stated while analysing the pulsation frequency. Therefore, separate correlation equations for both systems were suggested. Such influence has not been stated for the pulse velocity so a common relation for all the experimental data was obtained.
The knowledge of the examined in the present work parameters is extremely important to model the operation of a three-phase system in the pulse flow regime.
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Presented Tuesday 18, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Multifase Flows (T2-5P).
