Gas-liquid two-phase flow through packed bed reactors in microgravity

Experimental results on flow pattern transitions, pressure drop and flow characteristics for cocurrent gas-liquid flow through packed bed reactors in microgravity is presented and analyzed. The pulse flow regime is shown to exist over a much wider range of gas and liquid flow rates when under microgravity conditions. A new model is developed to predict the transition from bubble flow to pulse flow based on the dimensionless Suratman number. The Suratman number is shown to represent the balance of forces at the pore level which determine the conditions necessary for the onset of pulse flow in the column. This model is then extended to normal gravity flows in the downward direction for fixed Bond numbers. A model to predict pressure drop in the absence of gravity is also presented. An additional pressure drop term is developed to extend the applicability of the Ergun equation to gas-liquid flow. This term represents the losses resulting from the dynamic interaction between the two phases and is superposed with the liquid viscous and inertia terms to represent the total pressure loss through a reactor bed in a microgravity environment. The modified two-phase Ergun equation is shown to provide good agreement with the experimental results.