Dynamic Liquid–Solid Mass Transfer in Solid Foam Packed Reactors at Trickle and Pulse Flow

Abstract

The effective liquid–solid mass transfer (LSMT) has been investigated in solid foam packed reactors under cocurrent gas–liquid downflow. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, the limiting current technique was adapted successfully to solid foam packings enabling measurements of dynamic mass transfer coefficients at different axial packing positions. The flexible reactor setup was used to analyze the appropriateness of various setup configurations. The LSMT coefficients are presented for two different solid foam pore densities for a wide range of gas and liquid velocities covering trickling and pulsing flow regime. To illustrate the difference in the LSMT dynamics in terms of electric current compared to the liquid holdup at pulse flow, a compartment model is developed. Excellent agreement is achieved between simulations and measurement data. Eventually, the effective mass transfer data are compared with conventional random and structured packings.