Hydrodynamics of gas-liquid co-current flow through a thin sheet of highly porous open cell solid foam

Abstract

An experimental study of the hydrodynamics of a gas-liquid co-current flow inside a thin sheet of Open Cell Solid Foam (OCSF) confined in a plate reactor is proposed. Image processing is used to quantify the flow patterns when varying the gas and liquid flow rates and buoyancy (horizontal and vertical upflow). The fraction of joint flow and interface motion areas, respectively εm and εi, are defined as relevant quantities to characterize the different flow regimes and phases interaction. Two distinct regimes are observed for the vertical flow: the low (LA) and high (HA) activity regimes characterized by a low or high phases interaction. In the horizontal configuration, an additional regime is observed and is called pseudo-trickling (PT) regime due to its similarity with the trickling regime observed in vertical downflow packed beds. The transition between LA and HA regimes is compared to the regime transition in trickle beds.