NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF THE WALL ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ISOTHERMAL TWO-PHASE FLOW IN THE BED OF A HYDRODESULFURIZATION REACTOR

Abstract

Numerical simulations of the isothermal two-phase flow distribution in the packed bed of a reactor used for fuel hydrodesulfurization using the commercial software Fluent are reported. As a first step, the heat and mass transfer as well as the chemical reactions are not taken into account. The reactor considered has, above the bed, a distribution tray equipped with chimneys. A Eulerian three-phase model that considers the catalyst particles as a granular static phase was used following the Holub single-slit model for particle fluid interaction to compute the liquid-solid and gas-solid drag coefficients. Physical properties of the fluids are assumed to be constant. In the present study, the tendency of the liquid to move towards the wall of the reactor was studied in a bed 11 m in depth. The simulations predict that there is no suction effect on the flow caused by the wall. As the two-phase flow moves downward through the bed, a slow radial liquid spreading takes place. However, flow distribution is not completely uniform, at least at a distance of 11 m from the inlet.

Keywords:

• CFD
• Liquid distribution
• Multiphase flow
• Multiphase reactor
• Packed bed
• Wall effect