CFD Modeling of Trickle-Bed Reactors for Catalytic Hydropurification Processes

In trickle-bed reactors (TBRs), gas and liquid reactants flow co-currently downward
through a packed bed solid catalysts. TBRs are applied intensively in industrial
catalytic hydropurification processes, due to low energy dissipation rate and high
catalyst loading per unit volume of the liquid. Understanding the operation behaviors
of TBRs influenced by hydrodynamic parameters fluctuation such as gas holdup,
liquid holdup, wetting efficiency of the catalyst particles, and gas and liquid flow
rates is important for the design of industrial TBRs and evaluation of the reactor
performance. Due to the complexity of the two-phase fluid interaction in TBR, a
thorough understanding of hydrodynamics in industrial TBR under actual operating
conditions has not been achieved. Conventional studies carried out through
experimental and empirical methods are limited to analysis of pilot plant TBR.