Modification of Ergun equation for application in trickle bed reactors randomly packed with trilobe particles using computational fluid dynamics technique

Based on a slit model, a pellet scale model has been developed for calculation of drag force imposed on trilobe catalyst particles in a packed bed reactor. The drag coefficient for single gas phase flow in a porous media has been calculated by CFD simulation and the results compared to the Ergun equation. The results show that the drag coefficient predicted by Ergun equation should be modified for various bed porosities, particle aspect ratio and gas densities. Therefore, a correction factor has been proposed to correct the Ergun equation constants in various conditions for trilobe particles. Comparison between the proposed corrected Ergun equation results and experimental data indicates considerable agreement.