Flow Pattern of Miscellaneous Liquids with Varied Flow Rates on Structured Corrugation SiC Foam Packing

Abstract

Although the unique liquid behavior renders structured corrugation SiC foam packing (SCFP-SiC) a great alternative in distillation, the separation efficiency depends heavily on capacity and liquid property. The aim of this work is to discuss the change of flow pattern with miscellaneous liquids at different flow rates in order to explain the performance of SCFP-SiC in a distillation column. The ultraviolet photography and pulse tracer method were used to estimate the effective flow area and the resident time, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the liquid flow pattern on SCFP-SiC consists of streamflow and transfusion flow. The stream flow can be enlarged by the increase of liquid flow rate so that the effective flow area is reduced, resulting in the decrease of separation efficiency at high liquid capacity. What is more, there exists a vast difference of flow pattern between polar liquid (e.g., water and acetic acid) and nonpolar liquid (e.g., cyclohexane). Transfusion flow of the former is much less than that of the latter, causing the poor performance when separating polar system. Therefore, the liquid capacity and type should be evaluated firstly in the use of SCFP-SiC.