Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

of SINGAPORE

Chemical Engineering Process Laboratory II

Experiment F3

Flow in Packed Bed

Name :

Matric No. :

Group :

Date of Expt. :

GRADE :
Equipment:

A set of three horizontal glass columns packed with spherical glass beads of different sizes.

Objectives:

To study the fluid flow behaviour in packed beds.

Experimental:

Design an experiment to study

• To determine the pressure drop and friction factor for fluid flowing through columns
packed with different sizes of glass beads.

• To study the relationship between friction factor and Reynolds number for flow through
packed bed.

Guide and Information:

When a fluid flows through a bed of particulate solids

1
Average Velocity ∝ Driving Pressure ∝
Bed Thickness

If the flow in the bed is laminar then due to viscous drag , superficial velocity (u) which is
nothing but the velocity through empty column is inversely proportional to the fluid viscosity
and can be represented as

∆P ∆P 1 dv Flowrate of liquid
u=K =B = =
L µ L A dt Cross − sec tional area of the column

where

K = Proportionality constant
∆P = Pressure drop
L = Length of the Bed
B = Permeability coefficient of the bed
A = Cross-sectional area of the bed
dv = Differential Volume
dt = Differential Time

By determining Bed Characteristics such as void fraction (ε), specific surface area (S), etc.
NRe and the friction factor φ can be estimated.
From the basic definition, Reynolds Number for flow through packed bed filled with
6
spherical particles (S= ) can be written as
dp

ρ u dp
NRe =
6 µ (1 − ε )

The resistance to the flow of a fluid through the bed of solids is the net result of the total drag
of all the particles in the bed. Depending on the NRe, friction factor, laminar /turbulent flow,
form drag and wake formation will occur. Hence, friction factor (φ) for the above system can
be obtained by equating total drag force to the total pressure force.

i.e. R’ S L (1-ε) = ε ∆ P

Where R’ is the drag force per unit area of particle surface. Therefore friction factor can be
obtained as
∆P dp ε3
φExptl = [ ]
L 6 (1 − ε ) ρ u 2

Ergun equation was developed attributing viscous drag force and inertial force to the total
pressure drop in the bed and can be written as

φErgun = 4.17 NRe-1 + 0.29

in the above equation for higher values of NRe viscous force becomes negligible and inertial
forces control.

According to Carman the co-relation for friction factor and Reynolds Number can be written
as

φCarman = 5 NRe-1 + 0.4 NRe-0.1

for laminar flow, when NRe ≤ 2, the second term of the Ergun and Carman equations
becomes negligible.

• Measure the bulk density of three different sizes of glass beads.

• Calculate void fraction ε for the columns.
• Select the column to be used and adjust valves appropriately. Pass the fluid through the
packed column at the lowest flow rate to be studied.
• Ensure steady state is achieved before taking reading.
• Measure the pressure drop across the bed at each increment of flow rate.
• Carryout similar experiments, calculations and generate similar plots for other columns.
REFERENCES :

1. McCabe, W.L., J.C. Smith, and P. Harriott, “Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering”,
5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, Chapter 7 (1993).

2. Coulson, J.M., J.F. Richardson, J.R., Backhurst and J.H. Harkaer, “Chemical
Engineering” Vol. II, 3rd Edition, Pergamon Press, Chapter 4 (1978).