HEAT TRANSFER IN TRICKLE-BED REACTORS

The mechanism of radial heat transfer in two-phase flow through packed beds is examined. A model with 2 parameters: an effective radial thermal conductivity in the bed, k_e , and a heat transfer coefficient, h_w , at the wall, give a satisfactory interpretation of the radial temperature profile.

k_e was expressed in terms of a stagnant contribution, due to the heat conduction through the solid and the fluid in the void space, and a radial mixing contribution of the gas and liquid phases, due to the radial component of the velocity of both fluids. The radial mixing contribution of the liquid ( k_e ) _L was compared with radial mass dispersion data, and a satisfactory agreement was obtained.

Moreover, ( k_e )was much higher than the gas mixing and the stagnant contributions.

Correlations for hw and k_e ) _L have been proposed in accordance with the hydrodynamic regimes of the two-phase flow.