Study on liquid dispersion characteristics in trickle bed reactor based on image processing

The liquid flow and distribution are key factors in determining the performance of a trickle bed reactor. It is highly challenging to examine the characteristics of liquid dispersion due to the complexity of the liquid flow mechanism in the trickle bed reactor. In this study, experimental research was performed to determine the impacts of gas/liquid velocity, particle packing method, and liquid properties on the characteristics of liquid dispersion in a pseudo-two-dimensional trickle bed reactor. A high-speed camera system was utilized to record the liquid flow and distribution in the reactor. An image processing method was proposed to obtain the particle surface wetting efficiency for quantifying the liquid distribution in the reactor. By combining liquid distribution images (qualitative information) and particle surface wetting efficiency (quantitative information) in the reactor under different conditions, it is feasible to evaluate the liquid dispersion in the trickle bed reactor in great detail.