Study of Maldistribution of a Two-Phase Steady State Flow on Structured Packing Using CFD Technique

The maldistribution of liquid flow on MontzpakB1-250Y packing as a Delft standard packing was studied. Variation coefficient and other factors affecting liquid distribution (e.g. distribution quality of liquid distributor and velocity of the passing liquid through packing) determine the uniformity of the liquid flow. The liquid distribution on the packing was simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The volume of fluid method and finite volume method were used for simulation of the liquid distribution system and numerical method solving the resulted equations,respectively. The maldistribution phenomenon was studied at steady state condition. The distribution of the liquid flow in presence of countercurrent gas flow was simulated considering three different liquid velocities. Thickness of the liquid film was calculated in spatial direction of the packing’s channel. The calculations indicate that increase of liquid velocity enhances the thickness of liquid film. Variation coefficient of liquid distribution for liquid velocity was calculated and compared with the experimental results reported by other researchers. Recent studies show that proper dispersion of the liquid film on the surface of the packing sheets yields an even liquid distribution. Liquid hold up (hl) was also calculated using the CFD method.