Author(s)

C. Rautenbach, B. M.Halvorsen, E. du Plessis, S. Woudberg & J. P. du Plessis

Abstract

Packed bed reactors are widely used in industry to improve the total contact area between two substances in a multiphase process. In some cases, like for the packing elements of some CO2 absorption towers, the packing material can be of such geometric nature that during discharge through them different flow conditions can be present in different parts of the packing. This renders prediction of pressure drops quite difficult. This paper concerns experimental and modelling activities to improve predictive equations for pressure drops over a packed bed of Raschig rings. It is shown that the application of some correctivemeasures can dramatically improve the correlation between theory and experiment, but that more research is needed in this field, regarding both carefully controlled experiments and mathematical modelling. Keywords: pressure drop, porous media, packing materials, Raschig rings, drag models.

Keywords

pressure drop, porous media, packing materials, Raschig rings, drag models