Influence of viscosity and foaming properties on heat transfer in packed bed with cocurrent upflow of gas and liquid

The radial heat transfer in packed columns with concurrent upflow of gas and liquid is investigated. The gas is saturated nitrogen and the liquid are aqueous solutions of either ethylene glycol (viscous) or pentanol (foaming), or pure water. The influence of liquid properties, on hydrodynamics and heat transfer is shown. Radial temperature profiles are measured inside the packed bed. The heat transfer parameters of the packed bed reactor are obtained by fitting the parameters of a 2-D, homogeneous model to the measured profiles. In single phase liquid flow, the packed bed conductivity increases first linearly with the fluid flow rate, but tends to increase stronger than linearly at higher liquid Reynolds number. In two-phase flow, the heat transfer is influenced by the flow regimes.