Experimental investigation of gas-liquid distribution in periodic open cellular structures as potential catalyst supports

Radial and axial liquid distribution was measured in a packed column of 500 mm length and 100 mm inner diameter under various gas- and liquid superficial velocities to achieve trickle flow regime. Liquid maldistribution was determined using a liquid collector at the outlet consisting of 21 collection zones of equal area. In this work, as packings inside the column, periodic open cellular structures (POCS) were manufactured and applied. Such POCS can be used as structured catalyst support and/or liquid distributor. The hydrodynamic behavior of packings with Kelvin cell, Diamond cell and a hybrid combination of both unit cells was studied to identify unit cells with high potential for achieving homogeneous liquid distribution over the entire reactor cross-section. The liquid superficial velocity had a strong influence on the liquid distribution, while an increasing gas flow rate did not change the flow patterns. Kelvin cell packings tend to distribute the liquid towards the center whereas Diamond cell packings predominantly spread the fluid towards the rim. As a consequence of these observations, in this work a novel POCS structure is proposed: The combination of Kelvin and Diamond unit cells, called hybrid DiaKel unit cell. With POCS consisting of this unit cell type, a significantly improved liquid distribution can be achieved. Thus, this structure features high potential as liquid distributor and/or catalyst support in gas-liquid reaction systems. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.