Dynamic evaluation for liquid tracer in a trickle bed reactor

Abstract

A mathematical model is developed for a liquid flow on solid particles in a trickle bed reactor. A mathematical formulation is followed based on the liquid-solid model approach where the liquid phase with the (KCl) tracer is treated as a continuum. The physical modeling is discussed, including the formulation of initial and boundary conditions and the description of the solution methodology. Results of mathematical model are presented and validated. The model is validated through comparison using three experimental cases. The optimized values of the axial dispersion (Dax), liquid-solid mass transfer (kLS), and partial wetting efficiency (FM) coefficients are obtained simultaneously using the objective function. The behavior of Dax, kLS, and FM is analyzed by the empirical correlations.