THE EFFECT OF PARTICLE DILUTION ON WETTING EFFICIENCY AND LIQUID FILM THICKNESS IN SMALL TRICKLE BEDS

Abstract

Partial wetting in small scale trickle bed reactors results in incorrect determination of intra-particle apparent kinetic parameters as well as in erroneous reactor scale-up. Although a dilution of catalyst particles with inert fines improves the catalyst wetting efficiency, it does not guarantee full external catalyst wetting at all superficial liquid mass velocities. In this work, a method is presented to relate the wetting efficiency obtained at different operating conditions and at different laboratories for diluted and non-diluted beds. Liquid film thickness in diluted and non-diluted beds is estimated. The effect of the operating conditions on partial wetting and liquid film thickness is discussed.