Chemical Engineering and Processing 46 (2007) 329333

About a correlating equation for predicting pressure drops through

packed beds of spheres in a large range of Reynolds numbers
A. Montillet , E. Akkari, J. Comiti
GEPEA, UMR-CNRS 6144, Universite de Nantes, CRTT, BP 406, 44602 Saint-Nazaire Cedex, France
Received 24 October 2005; received in revised form 4 July 2006; accepted 5 July 2006
Available online 8 July 2006

Abstract
This work aims at validating and extending the applicability of an existing correlating equation for predicting pressure drop through packed
beds of spheres. A new set of data points out its use for bed geometric aspect ratio D/dpart in the range 3.814.5, in the case of dense packings.
The case of loose packings is also discussed using literature data. As a conclusion, a correlation is proposed for predicting pressure drops through
fixed beds of spheres (dense and loose packings) for large ranges of Reynolds numbers (10 < Repart < 2500) and of geometric aspect ratio
(3.5 < D/dpart < 4050).
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Packed beds; Spherical particles; Laminar flow; Turbulent flow; Voidage; Geometric aspect ratio

1. Introduction We then suggested the use of a form of equation proposed

Flow through packed beds of spheres has been extensively
studied. In particular, the aspects of pressure drop variation,
porosity profiles and effects of the bed geometric ratio have often
been discussed in the literature. Although in the opinion of many
engineers and researchers, this subject is considered as almost
exhaustively studied, yet many tasks remain to be considered.
In fact, the available knowledge is rather fragmented. For exam-
ple, the link between the bed structure and the observed flow
behaviour is not completely understood. In the sense of practi-
cal Chemical Engineering, there is no reliable universal equation
for predicting the pressure drop.
In a recent paper [1], the nature of the pressure drop variation
in the case of a Newtonian fluid flow through beds of spheres
was emphasised, covering laminar and turbulent flow regimes.
Indeed it is well established that, for a very large interval of
Reynolds number and especially for large values of the Reynolds
number, the pressure drop variation cannot be correctly repre-
sented with an equation of the Forchheimer type, namely
|P|
= AU0 + BU02
H large as possible in a given bed, different fluids and pumps have
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: agnes.montillet@univ-nantes.fr (A. Montillet).
by Rose [2] and Rose and Rizk [3], and modified it by adding
a correlating factor based on the bed porosity and on the bed
geometric aspect ratio. Indeed, Rose and Rizk pointed out the
respective effects of these two parameters on the relative resis-
tance variation but did not propose a correlating equation taking
them into account. As reported in Table 1, the most common
correlating equations from the literature do not include these
two parameters or include only a porosity factor. In our opinion,
the bed porosity is a parameter which cannot represent all the
effects of the bed geometric ratio on the flow. Thus, taking into
account the bed geometric ratio seems to be necessary.
In Ref. [1], a first form of a correlating equation is presented,
but it is based on only a limited number of data. The neces-
sity of getting new data sets in order to validate its usefulness
was emphasized. Despite the great amount of experimental data
present in the literature, most of them are not reproducible or
inadequate to provide a satisfying correlating equation. In our
opinion, the experiments must satisfy several criteria as using
a cloud of data cannot provide an equation which takes into
account the sensitivity of the pressure drop on the geometric
(1) ratio. Thus, in order to cover a range of Reynolds number as
to be used and each set of data needs to belong to the same part
of this bed. This requirement alone eliminates most of the liter-
ature data. Moreover, special care is needed to avoid air bubbles

0255-2701/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cep.2006.07.002
330 A. Montillet et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 46 (2007) 329333

Table 1
Main literature equations proposed for pressure drop predictions in large ranges of Reynolds number
Author/reference Equation Range of validity in terms of Repart

Rose [2] fpart = 1000 Re1

part + 60 Re0.5
part + 12 (2) Rather large but not precisely given by the authors
Rose and Rizk [3] fpart = 1000 Re1
part + 125 Re0.5
part + 14 (3) Rather large but not precisely given by the authors
 25 
Kuerten, reported fpart = (1 )2 [21Re1 0.5
part + 6Repart + 0.28] (4) 0.14 103
43
by Watanabe
[4]
(1 )1.2 0.2
Hicks [5] fpart = 6.8 Repart (5) 5006 104
 3   
150 (1 )2 4.2(1 )1.166 1/6
Tallmadge [6] fpart = + Repart (6) 0.1 to 105
Repart 3 3

1 12.5

Lee and Ogawa fpart = (1 )2 [29.32 Re1 n
part + 1.56 Repart + 0.1] with n = 1 to 105
2 3
[7]
0.352 + 0.1 + 0.2752 (7)

Presently, these equations are presented in terms of a modified particle friction factor fpart vs. the Repart .

in the beds in order to ensure sufficient accuracy in the deter-
mination of the bed porosity. The uncertainties brought about
by the use of flow-meters and manometers must be minimised
since a great accuracy is needed for the data in view of the sub-
tle scatter observed between some sets of experimental pressure
drop variations and a quadratic Forchheimer type equation.
The objective of this work is to present a new set of exper-
imental data in order to discuss and confirm the usefulness of
the previously proposed correlating equation. In conclusion, the
relevance of the proposed equations is discussed, based on a
comparison with correlating equations from the literature.
the aqueous solutions of glycerol is measured from a sample of
liquid taken from the experimental apparatus and with a Couette
viscosimeter (Reference: Rheoanalyzer, Contraves, module: MS
145). Commercial particles have been used such as glass par-
ticles or particles made of a rigid synthetic material. All the
used particles are smooth and rigid. Tables 2 and 3 recapitulate
the main characteristics of the tested beds, particles and experi-
ments.
3. Experimental results and procedure for correlating
the data

3.1. Case of dense packings

2. Experimental details
The data presented in this section have been obtained
The new data presented in Section 3.1 of this paper corre-
with dense packings characterized by porosities in the range
spond to a variation of the bed geometric aspect ratio in the
0.360.39 (uniform spheres) or even less (mixtures); with the
range 3.814.5 for which the wall effect is clearly not negligi-
exception of the bed characterised by D/dpart = 3.8, for which
ble. These new data sets supplement those formerly used in [1]
the porosity is 0.419. In the next section, the case of loose beds
which were characterized by a bed geometric aspect ratio in the
will be discussed.
range 12.341.3.
Each set of experimental data, i.e. group of data, obtained
The equipment used to obtain the new data is the same as that
with a given bed, is modelled with an equation of the form:
described previously in [1], except for one set of data which was
obtained with another apparatus. This one complies to the same fpart = [1000 Re1 0.5
part + 60 Repart + 12]
requirements, the only difference being that the nominal diame-     
ters of the pipes and of the cell (99.8 mm) are larger. This second 1 D 1 D b
with , = a (8)
apparatus allows to extend the range of variation of geometric 3 dpart 3 dpart
aspect ratio of tested beds.
where is considered to have a constant value for a given bed.
It is important to highlight the keypoints of the experimental
As previously pointed out in Ref. [1] and as can be seen, for
methods used in this work. The beds are packed according to a
example in Fig. 1, this form of equation conveniently represents
well established procedure [8] in order to get the beds as homo-
a set of data. On the opposite, for low values of (D/dpart ) studied
geneous as possible. To minimise the end effects, the pressure
in this work, the well known equation of Ergun [10] yields a great
drop was measured in a central part of each bed. The tested part
scatter with experimental data in the range of particle Reynolds
of the bed is high enough to consider that its porosity is close
numbers larger than 100200 (Fig. 1).
to that of the whole bed [9]. For each set of data, a large range
The recomputed values of the constants a and b, including
of Repart is tested using different fluids such as water or aque-
all available data (new data, the characteristics of which are
ous solutions of glycerol, but the measurements are still made in
presented in Tables 2 and 3, as well as data previously used in
the same part of the bed. Different manometers, flow-meters and
Ref. [1], are
pumps are used in order to ensure a high level of accuracy, what-
ever the experimental conditions [1]. The dynamic viscosity of a = 0.061 and b = 0.20 (9)
 A. Montillet et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 46 (2007) 329333 331

Table 2
Characteristics of new data (a.q.s.: aqueous solution of glycerol)
System Characteristics of the fluids Data

Particles, dpart (mm) Geometric aspect Fluid Density at 20 C Dynamic viscosity at Range of Reynolds No. of data
ratio, D/dpart (kg m3 ) 20 C (mPa s) number, Repart points

15.82 3.82 Aqueous solution 1086 3.19 1041406 81

of glycerol (a.q.s.)
9.95 6.08 a.q.s. 1068 3.63 64.6477 51
Water 998 1.01 10702557 51

8.02 7.55 Water 998 1.01 791620 87

6.89 14.33 Water 998 1.01 1421558 61
6.89 8.81 a.q.s. 1140 7.41 1193 41
Water 998 1.01 2201708 96

7.47, binary mixture 8.10 a.q.s. 1080 2.87 21.5187 37

(8.02 and 6.89) a.q.s. 1140 7.71 11111 46

Water 998 1.01 3581768 80

6.33, ternary mixture 9.59 a.q.s. 1080 2.87 20482 86

(8.02, 6.89 and 4.92) a. q. s. 1140 7.41 1095 46

Water 998 1.01 3001468 84

Table 3
Main bed and particle characteristics
System (particles/bed) Range of Repart (Eqs. (8) and (9)) MRS (%) and number of data

dpart (mm) and standard deviation D/dpart

5.82 0.17 0.419 3.82 1041406 0.630 1.0 (81)

9.95 0.17 0.373 6.08 652557 1.06 10.4 (102)
8.02 0.18 0.370 7.55 791621 1.14 10.2 (87)
6.89 0.06 0.366 8.81 111708 1.22 6.9 (137)
6.89 0.06 0.360 14.5 1421559 1.43 4.3 (61)
7.47, binary mixture (8.02 and 6.89) 0.386 8.10 221768 0.990 2.5 (163)
6.33, ternary mixture (8.02, 6.89 and 4.92) 0.356 9.60 201469 1.37 6.3 (216)

Mean relative scatter (MRS) between computed data (Eqs. (8) and (9)) and new experimental data.

The new values of a and b compare very favourably with the

previously reported values of 0.066 and 0.17, respectively. The
comparison of the values of obtained from the proposed cor-
relation to those obtained by a fitting with the experimental sets
of data is presented in Fig. 2 and in Table 3 for the new data.

3.2. Case of loose packings

Loose packings, i.e. beds of spheres with a porosity range

Fig. 1. Example of experimental variation of fpart vs. Repart . Geometric aspect
ratio: 8.81. Particle diameter: 6.89 mm. Bed porosity: 0.366. Comparison of data
with Ergun equation [10].
of 0.40.45 or more, seem to be more of an academic curios-
ity rather than an industrial reality. They are obtained with very
unusual and rather sophisticated procedures like those employed
by Zou and Yu [13] or Griffiths [14]. The goal of these proce-
dures is to obtain the so-called random arrangements of particles
and homogeneous beds. In particular, these procedures should
avoid the formation of particular arrangements usually created
at the extremities of the beds by a simple pouring of the par-
ticles. Griffiths [14] presents a large number of pressure drop
332 A. Montillet et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 46 (2007) 329333

Table 4
Main characteristics of some loose packings tested by Griffiths [14]
System Range of Repart (Eq. (8)) Relative scatter (%) between (Eq. (8) with
a = 0.050 and b = 0.20) and experimental
dpart (mm) D/dpart

24.7 0.419 5.22 301000 0.550 3.1

9.54 0.399 13.52 0.796 6.1
18.8 0.408 6.86 0.641 0.2
18.8 0.413 6.86 0.612 1.5
19.78 0.404 6.52 0.658 2.5
24.76 0.419 5.21 0.549 3.0
6.35 0.398 15.90 0.830 0.4
9.54 0.395 10.59 0.787 2.2
18.88 0.410 5.35 0.599 4.0
19.78 0.421 5.106 0.538 2.7
19.78 0.414 5.106 0.572 9.3
6.35 0.400 12.63 0.778 1.4
9.54 0.404 8.41 0.692 1.6
18.88 0.418 4.25 0.532 1.7
24.76 0.442 3.24 0.409 4.9
19.78 0.425 3.83 0.490 1.2
24.76 0.413 3.06 0.521 12
9.54 0.403 7.23 0.677 0.9
18.88 0.452 3.37 0.378 0.8

Relative scatter between the values of fitted to experimental correlating equations and the computed values of (Eq. (8) with a=0.050 and b=0.20).

measurement data. Most of them are easily usable and cover a
relatively large range of Repart , namely 301000.
These data have been analyzed using the procedure of com-
putation presented in Section 3.1. Eq. (8) is still convenient for
the representation of these data, using b = 0.20, but a new value
for the constant a is needed, yielding: a = 0.050.
The values of obtained by a fitting with the experimental
equations and those obtained from the proposed correlation for
are compared in Table 4.
The dense or loose nature of the packing does not influence
the power of the geometric aspect ratio in Eq. (8), but the value
of the constant a depends on the nature of the bed. It means that
the particle organisation, is not yet properly taken into account
in the proposed equation. This parameter is rather difficult to
quantify. Zou and Yu [13] have observed that for D/dpart > 1.8,
the variation of the bed porosity as a function of D/dpart follows
two different paths, for loose packings and dense packings.
4. Discussion and conclusion
4.1. Fields of applications of Eq. (8) for prediction of
pressure drops
The form of Eq. (8) is a power law. The upper limit of its use
in terms of D/dpart is 40 which is not a real problem as the wall
effects are often considered to be negligible for D/dpart > 4050
[3]. If this assumption is admitted, a limit could be fixed for
D/dpart > 50: (D/dpart )0.2 2.2. The case of beds with aspect
ratios D/dpart < 3.5 is special and should be considered sepa-
rately. In particular, our equation does not represent accurately
the data of Calis et al. [15] obtained for D/dpart 4. Griffiths [14]
noticed that the porosity variation is reversed for D/dpart < 3.5
and the data of Zou and Yu [13] confirm this phenomenon.

4.2. Comparison of Eq. (8) with other equations from the

literature

The equation of Hicks [5] and that of Tallmadge [6], as shown

in Table 1, are often used in the literature to test numerical
computations. Using them to predict the pressure drop in beds
described in Table 3 gives rise to a mean relative scatter (MRS)
with the experimental data equal to, respectively, 10.6% and
Fig. 2. Comparison of experimental values of (for dense packings) and those
predicted with Eqs. (8) and (9): graphical representation of f() = 3 /(1 ) 14.7% whereas the mean relative scatter using Eqs. (8) and (9)
1/D/dpart as a function of D/dpart . The data of Wahyudi [11] and those of Fand is 6.0%. Eq. (7), proposed by Lee and Ogawa [7], also fails
et al. [12] were previously presented in Ref. [1]. to represent correctly our data, since a mean relative scatter of
 A. Montillet et al. / Chemical Engineering and Processing 46 (2007) 329333 333

31% is calculated. The present correlating equation seems to fluid viscosity (Pa s)
increase noticeably the reliability of prediction of experimental fluid density (kg m3 ).
data, especially for the tested narrow beds.
References
4.3. Conclusion
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