Hydrodynamics of reactive distillation tray column with catalyst containing envelopes: experiments vs. CFD simulations

We have studied the hydrodynamics of a reactive distillation sieve tray column in which catalyst containing wire-gauze envelopes are disposed along the liquid flow direction. The gas and liquid phases are in cross-current contact on the tray. Experiments were carried out to determine the clear liquid height on the tray as a function of tray geometry and operating conditions. The transient gas–liquid hydrodynamics on the tray was simulated using CFD techniques. The agreement between the experiments and CFD simulations was found to be very good, suggesting that CFD simulations can be used for design and scale-up purposes.