Holdup and Pressure Drop of Packed Beds Containing a Modular Catalytic Structured Packing

A comparative experimental study has been carried out to establish the hydraulic behavior of a new modular catalytic packing (Sulzer's Katapak^®‐SP 12) and the hybrid packed bed consisting of a catalytic packing section placed in between two sections comprising elements of a high capacity structured packing (MellapakPlus 752.Y). Air‐water experiments were carried out at ambient conditions using a Perspex column with an internal diameter of 0.45 m. As expected, the liquid holdup and the pressure drop of the combined bed were between those measured for beds consisting purely of the catalytic and structured packings. However, unlike the two reference beds, the combined bed exhibited a clear upper gas load limit due to a pronounced liquid buildup at the transition from the structured packing to the top element of the catalytic packing section. Also it appeared that the Delft model, with appropriate packing geometry modifications is capable of reliably predicting the preloading region holdup and pressure drop of a hybrid packed bed containing Katapak‐SP.