On the Influence of Liquid Distribution on Heat Transfer Parameters in Trickle Bed Systems

The aim of this work is to analyse experimental results on radial heat transfer in a packed bed column with cocurrent downflow of liquid and gas, focused on the influence of radial liquid distribution and column to particle diameter ratio. For this purpose, two kinds of measurements were carried out: radial liquid distribution and radial temperature profiles. Heat transfer data as analysed with a model consisting of two regions: a lumped wall region up to a distance of a particle radius from the tube wall, and a distributed core region covering the rest of the bed. Three parameters arose: the radial effective thermal conductivity of the core region (ker,c), the heat transfer coefficient between both zones (hI), and the heat transfer coefficient from the wall region to the tube wall (hw,w). Suitable correlations for the mentioned parameters as a function of gas and liquid Reynolds number and particle diameter were developed.