Professional Documents
Culture Documents
in Packed Beds
S. Sachdev1, S. Pareek2, B. Mahadevan3 and A. Deshpande4*
Department of Chemical Engineering, BITS Pilani - K.K. Birla Goa Campus, Zuari Nagar, Goa,
India *amoldeshpande@bits-goa.ac.in
1,2,3,4
1. Introduction
In chemical processing, a packed bed is a
hollow tube, pipe, or other vessel that is filled
with a packing material. The packing can be
randomly filled with small objects or else it
can be a specifically designed structured
packing. The purpose of a packed bed is typically
to improve contact between two phases in a
chemical or similar process. Packed beds can be
used in a chemical reactor, a distillation process,
an absorption process or a scrubber, but packed
beds have also been used to store heat in chemical
plants.
Two major limitations of the packed bed
systems are channeling and formation of hot
spots. There are many channels but the fluid
flows through only few channels, that is, it
doesnt distribute itself properly. Also, the
2. Mathematical Modeling
1 d dvz
dp
gz
r
0
dz
r
dr
dr
L
3d p2
3d p
.( u) 0
t
If is a constant, as in the case of incompressible
flow, the mass continuity equation simplifies to a
volume continuity equation:
.u 0
which means that the divergence of velocity field
is zero everywhere. Physically, this is equivalent
to saying that the local volume dilation rate is
zero.
u. k .
(u.) .
Ce1 Pk
Ce 2
T
e
2
k
Where Pk represents,
Pk T u : (u (u)T )
And Ce1, Ce2 and K are turbulence model
parameters (constants). In the implementation of
this model the Kolmogorov - Prandtl expression
for the turbulent viscosity is used
T C
T
k P
k k
k2
C p vz
dT
dz
' 1 d dT
k
r
r dr dr
2
d T
2
dz
5. Conclusion
Figure 8: Velocity Plot (Surface) N=8
An approach to fluid flow in low tube-toparticle diameter fixed beds is needed that is
general enough to be applicable for reactor design
purposes, but that retains the detailed flow
features that contribute to transport of heat and
mass and to strong local gradients that could
influence reaction kinetics. This approach should
provide a link to bed structure, so that, if packing
or packing characteristics are known, flow
8. Acknowledgements
A compilation of this nature could never have
been attempted without reference to, and
inspiration from, the work of others. The authors
thank Mr. Amol Deshpande, Lecturer,
Department of Chemical Engineering at BITS
Pilani-K.K Birla Goa Campus for his guidance
and mentorship throughout the work. Also, the
authors thank COMSOL Multiphysics Pvt. Ltd.,
for the university license of their CFD software.
6. Nomenclature
N = Tube to particle diameter ratio, = void
fraction, uo = superficial velocity, dp = particle
diameter, k = thermal conductivity, k = turbulent
kinetic energy, T = turbulent viscosity, = rate
of dissipation of kinetic energy
7. References
1. Anthony G. Dixon et al. Michiel Nijemeisland,
CFD as a design tool for fixed bed reactors, Ind.
Eng. Chem. Res., 40, 5246-5254, 2001
2. Green, Don and Robert Perry, Perry's Chemical
Engineers' Handbook, Eighth Edition McGrawHill, 2007