Measuring liquid flow in structured packings using gamma and x-ray tomography

Detailed knowledge of the liquid distribution in structured packings is an essential requirement for developing high-performance columns. Two different tomographic technologies are used to resolve the liquid distribution on different length scales. A variety of hydrocarbons, silicone oil and water can be used as model fluids.

For macroscopic measurements of the whole column cross-section (up to Ø 750 mm) a gamma tomograph has been built. The tomograph is qualified to operate in ATEX areas and can resolve liquid flow phenomena like wall flow, inlet flow distribution, crossover between packing blocks etc.

For microscopic measurements of flow details x-ray tomography is used. Using a voxel size of 41 μm the influence of the packing's geometry parameters on the liquid flow can be analyzed. The resulting data is also used for verification of corresponding two-phase flow CFD simulations.