Prediction of effective area and liquid hold-up in structured packings by CFD.

Yacine Haroun (1) , Ludovic Raynal (1) , Pascal Alix (1)

1 IFPEN - IFP Energies nouvelles

Interfacial effective area and liquid hold-up in structured packing geometries are investigated using the Volume Of Fluid method. Tree-dimensional numerical simulations of gas-liquid flow on inclined plane plate and structured packing are performed. The VOF method is used to capture the gas-liquid interface motion. After a first validation case on the wetting phenomena prediction in inclined plane plate, the effective interfaciale area, the liquid hold-up and the degree of wetting of packing are studied as function of liquid flow rate and wall surface characteristic (adherence contact angle). Results show that the liquid flow-rate and the contact angle play a significant role. It is found that the interfacial effective area and the degree of wetting of packing increase as the liquid flow rate increases and as the contact angle decreases. Moreover, under the influence of the contact angle, different liquid film shapes are observed. The simulations results are compared to experimental data available in literature. This work shows how CFD can be used as an effective tool to investigate performance characteristics of structured packing and provide information on fluid behaviour as the determination of minimum flow rate for which the entire surface of packing is fully wetted by the liquid phase.

Mots clés: Structured packing; Effective mass transfer area; CFD; Volume of fluid method; CO2 capture; Gas treatment

Domaines: Modélisation et simulation; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Yacine Haroun, Ludovic Raynal, Pascal Alix. Prediction of effective area and liquid hold-up in structured packings by CFD.. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2014, 92, pp.2247-2254. ⟨10.1016/j.cherd.2013.12.029⟩. ⟨hal-01138551⟩