Modeling Of Liquid Flow In A Packed Bed Under Influence Of Gas Flow

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to model (non-wetting) liquid flow in a packed bed under the influence of gas flow. It has been observed experimentally that non-wetting liquid flows in a packed bed in form of small droplets and rivulets falling through the void regions. Continuum models have not been successful in predicting liquid flow paths when the liquid is injected through a point source in the packed bed. In the current study, we present a discrete deterministic model for modeling the liquid flow in a packed bed, under the influence of gas flow. When a high velocity gas blast in injected into a dry packed bed, a cavity or a void is formed in front of the nozzle. The cavity size increases with increasing gas velocity and exhibits hystersis in size upon increasing and decreasing gas flow rate. The cavity size is very important in determining the gas penetration into the packed bed. A proper gas flow profile prediction is necessary for determining it’s effect on the liquid flow behavior. Attempts at modeling cavity sizes have mostly been confined to experimental studies and development of correlations. Different correlations show different dependence on operating as well as bed parameters and a fundamental understanding of the cavity formation and hystersis phenomena is missing. We adopt a combined Eulerean-Lagrangian approach to study the above mentioned phenomena mathematically. Gas is modeled as a continua and solid as discrete (soft sphere D.E.M. approach). Hystersis and cavity formation studies are carried out in a 2D-slot rectangular packed bed. A discrete deterministic liquid flow model (developed and validated under structured packing conditions using x-ray radiography flow visualization technique), is used to study the effect of presence of liquid on the dry bed void size, when liquid is injected in a packed bed through a point source. It is found that the gas pushes the liquid away from the nozzle side wall. Also, the cavity sizes during gas velocity decreasing case are found to be larger in size than the void size obtained during velocity increasing case for the same inlet gas flow rate. This difference is void size leads to more gas penetration into the bed and thus more liquid shift away from the nozzle side wall. Presence of liquid is found to affect the void size (compared to dry bed size) negligibly.