EFFECTIVE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY IN TRICKLE-BED REACTORS: APPLICATION OF EFFECTIVE MEDIUM THEORY AND RANDOM WALK ANALYSIS

Abstract

A model for the prediction of the radial effective thermal conductivity of cocurrent down-flow trickle-bed reactors in the complete wetting trickling flow regime is presented. The radial thermal conductivity is made up of two components: that due to heat conduction and that due to radial liquid dispersion. The former is evaluated based on the effective medium theory while the latter by a random walk analysis. Comparison of the calculated values with experimental data in the literature shows good agreement.