Flow regimes in a gas-liquid-solid three-phase moving bed

The gas-liquid-solid three-phase moving beds could supply a potential solution for multiphase reactions with catalyst easily deactivated, and the flow regimes in it were studied by optical method and pressure drop measurement. Results showed that taking the trickle flow as the initial flow regime, the flow channels were more obvious as the particle velocity increased. When the initial flow regimes were pulse flow and bubble flow respectively, the pulse-to-trickle and bubble-to-pulse flow transitions mainly occurred at moderate-to-high particle velocities (0.01-0.04 m s(-1) under conditions used in this work). Moreover, the flow regime map in the three-phase moving bed was constructed and shown that the region of trickle flow increased and the region of bubble flow decreased. Finally, the application of three-phase moving beds was discussed, and it could be suitable for those reactions, which had to operate in the pulse flow, bubble flow, and transition zone.

Automated summary

The study found that as particle velocity increased, flow channels became more pronounced with transitions between different initial flow regimes occurring at moderate-to-high particle velocities. The flow regime map of the three-phase moving bed showed an increase in trickle flow region and a decrease in bubble flow region, making it suitable for reactions requiring operation in pulse flow, bubble flow, and transition zones.