Liquid Flow Behavior of a Seepage Catalytic Packing Internal for Catalytic Distillation Column

A seepage catalyst packing internal (SCPI) as a good alternative for catalytic distillation internals was investigated in this work. The seepage flow behavior and liquid holdup characteristics of the SCPI have a significant influence on the performance and industrial design of a catalytic distillation column with SCPI, and the present study focused on this issue. Measurements of the seepage flow and liquid holdup of the SCPI were achieved using a 100-mm-diameter plexiglas tube and a 600-mm-diameter Perspex column, respectively. The experimental results were used to develop a series of correlations to predict the liquid holdup of the SCPI. Again, a comparison to the experimental data showed good agreement. It was concluded that the model represents the real process with satisfactory accuracy, although some deviations were observed. Furthermore, compared with two classical catalytic packings, the experimental results show that the SCPI has a much larger liquid holdup, which is advantageous for the reaction. Finally, the basic flow regimes in SCPI can be distinguished based on the liquid flow behaviors, which can be used for the design and scaleup of catalytic distillation column with SCPI.