Hydrodynamics of Concurrent Gas-Liquid Flows in Inclined Rotating and Floating Packed Beds

The effects of floating vessel motions and reactor rotation on the hydrodynamic behaviour of multiphase flows in porous media were studied. For elucidating such effects, laboratory-scale packed bed systems with co-current gas-liquid flow were subjected to different types of motion by using a hexapod ship motion simulator and a hollow shaft rotary actuator. The hydrodynamic characteristics in terms of bed overall pressure drop, liquid saturation, gas-liquid segregation, and flow regime transition was experimentally studied. A capacitance wire mesh sensor (WMS) and a compact gamma-ray tomography system (CompaCT) were positioned firmly on, respectively, the floating packed bed and the inclined rotating packed bed to visualize the two-phase flow patterns in terms of local liquid saturation distribution. The response of pressure drop, liquid saturation, and flow regime transition to the bed motions was monitored and compared to those corresponding to the static upright and 15°-inclined configurations. The results indicated that the known characteristics of the conventional trickle bed reactor cannot be transferred one to one on those of the moving reactor configurations.