Abstract

Statistical Analysis of the Dynamic Liquid Saturation in a Trickle Bed

Author(s): Rahul Omar and Hara Mohan Jena

The objective of the present study is to experimentally investigate the dynamic liquid saturation in a co-current trickle bed with non-Newtonian and foaming liquids and quantify the effect of operating variables on it. Experiments were carried out in a 10-cm diameter column of height 128 cm, packed with glass beads of 4 mm with air and water, carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) solutions and sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) solutions. Experimental results indicate the dynamic liquid saturation increase with increase in liquid velocity and viscosity of the liquid, decrease with increase in gas velocity and decrease in surface tension of the liquid. The increase in dynamic liquid saturation is 12% for 3.5% CMC solution over the tap water, whereas the same decreases by 20% for 60 ppm SLS solution to that of the tap water one. Model equations are developed by factorial design analysis for predicting the dynamic liquid saturation of both non-Newtonian and foaming liquids. The experimental ones and the predicted results from model equations found to agree well. The correlation predicts the present data to within ± 15%.