Heat Transfer in Packed Bed
Applications of packed bed in chemical
industry
• Reactors,
• Separators,
• Dryers,
• Filters,
• Heat Exchangers
The main purpose is for Gas-liquid (mostly) or
Liquid-liquid contact
Packed Bed
• Usually filled with random oriented
packing material but for some specific
applications , it is carefully positioned
in the column
• The main components are
Cylindrical shell
Support Plate for packing material
Distributor
Redistributor (sometimes)
Key Factor – selection of packing material,
such that effective contact of the phases
without excessive pressure drop
Packed columns(reactors)
• They are quite similar to multi
tubular Shell & Tube Heat
Exchanger
• Solid catalysts are packed in tubes
• Reactant gases enter & leave
through headers at the end of
reactors
• For exothermic reactions, the
heat of reaction is removed by
circulating coolant on shell side
• For endothermic reaction, energy
supplied from the shell side
• Outside of the tubes is the heating / cooling medium, which can be
water , steam, oil or molten salt. Boiling water or steam is often
preferred as heat transfer medium for exothermic /endothermic
reactions respectively.
• Advantage of these media is the high heat transfer coefficient,
which is caused by the phase transitions that occur at the outer
surface of the tubes, and the fact that it is relatively easy to have a
constant temperature over the entire cooling jacket.
• Limiting Heat Transfer coefficient is usually the tube side
• The tube size and mass flow rate are often chosen to ensure a
nearly constant reaction temperature or to prevent the maximum
catalyst temperature from exceeding a safe value.
Temperature & Velocity Profiles
• Radial temperature profile for an
exothermic reaction in a packed tube has
been shown in fig(a).
• A steep gradient near the inside wall and
a nearly parabolic temperature profile
over the rest of the catalyst bed.
• The velocity profile has a peak near the
Radial Temp and
wall, since the particles are packed more
velocity profiles
loosely in this region than in the rest of
the tube.
Heat Transfer Coefficient
𝑑𝑞 = 𝑈𝑑𝐴(𝑇 − 𝑇𝑗 )
𝑑𝐴 = 𝜋𝐷𝑖 𝑑𝐿
1 1 1 𝑥𝑤
= + +
𝑈 ℎ𝑖 ℎ 𝐷𝑜 𝑘 𝐷𝑙
𝑜 𝐷 𝑚𝐷
𝑖 𝑜
• Here, 𝑇 is the av. Temp. that
would result from mixing all the
gas flowing through the tube at a
given distance along the tube
• In this simple treatment, the gas and solid temperatures are
assumed to be the same , even though, with an exothermic
reaction, the catalyst particle must be hotter, but the difference
is small in comparison to driving force.
• The difference between gas and solid temperatures is
generally only a few degrees compared to a typical driving
force (T — Tj) of 20 to 30°C
• Since,
the actual velocity with packing >Superficial Velocity hence,
the heat transfer coefficient with packing> Heat Transfer
coefficient of empty tower
• For air in tubes packed with spheres, the coefficients are 5
to10 times those for an empty pipe. The coefficient is
𝐷𝑝
highest when ≈ 0.15 𝑡𝑜 0.2 {Dp- particle diameter &
𝐷𝑖
𝐷𝑖 is inside diameter.
• The coefficients increase with about the 0.6 power of
the flow rate and decrease more with increasing tube
size than for an empty tube.
• For very small particles, the turbulent mixing in the bed
is depressed, and there is a large resistance to heat
transfer in the central region, which leads to a
temperature profile similar to that for laminar flow.
• For very large particles, there is rapid mixing and almost
no gradient in the center of the tube. But thick region of
high void fraction in side of wall, most of the resistance
offered here.
• . To predict the rate of heat transfer for different particle and
tube sizes, gas flow rates, and gas properties, the Coefficient
hi, is split into two parts to account for the resistance in the
region very near the wall and for the resistance in the rest of
the bed
1 1 1
= +
ℎ𝑖 ℎ𝑤 ℎ𝑏𝑒𝑑
• The bed coefficient is obtained from an effective thermal
conductivity ke.
• The following equation applies if the temperature profile in the
bed is parabolic: 𝑘𝑒
ℎ𝑏𝑒𝑑 = 4
𝑟
For porous particles(alumina, silica gel etc.)
𝑘𝑒 ≈ 5𝑘𝑔
For turbulent condition,
𝑘𝑒
≈ 5 + 0.1𝑅𝑒𝑝 𝑃𝑟
𝑘𝑔
𝑘𝑔 is the thermal conductivity of gas
𝑅𝑒𝑝 - particle diameter is used here
Pr- calculated based on gas properties
Using all the above equations h bed can be
calculated
• Following equation may be used for hw
ℎ𝑤 𝐷𝑝
𝑁𝑢𝑤 = = 1.94𝑅𝑒𝑝0.5 𝑃𝑟 0.33
𝑘𝑔
𝐷𝑝
• When is in between 0.1 to 0.2, hi maximum
𝐷𝑖
𝐷𝑝
• When small, bed resistance more
𝐷𝑖
important
Dp increases, Rep increases, hbed increases
𝐷𝑝
• When large wall film controls
𝐷𝑖
Dp increases, low hw & lower hi
