Correlations for the Interphase Drag in the Two-Fluid Model of Gas--Liquid Flows through Packed-Bed Reactors

TL;DR

This paper develops and validates new correlations for interphase drag in gas-liquid flows within packed-bed reactors under microgravity, using experimental data and simulations to improve the two-fluid model accuracy.

Contribution

It introduces data-driven correlations for gas-liquid interphase drag in a two-fluid model, validated through simulations and experimental data under microgravity conditions.

Findings

Good agreement between simulations and experimental data

Correlations effectively predict interphase drag based on Reynolds and Suratman numbers

Enhanced modeling accuracy for microgravity packed-bed reactors

Abstract

Experiments conducted by NASA measured the pressure drop due to gas--liquid flow through a packed-bed reactor under microgravity conditions. From these experiments, we develop correlations for the gas--liquid $f_{gl}$ interphase drag in a two-fluid model (TFM). We use an Ergun-type closure for liquid--solid drag. Then, under a 1D flow assumption, $f_{gl}$ is the only unknown in the TFM. Using a data-driven approach, we determine $f_{gl}$ and correlate it (via composite fits) with the liquid and gas Reynolds numbers, $Re_{l}$ and $Re_{g}$, respectively, and the Suratman number $Su_{l}$. To validate the proposed $f_{gl}(Re_{l},Re_{g},Su_{l})$ closure, we perform two-dimensional transient simulations at microgravity conditions using ANSYS Fluent and employing an Euler--Euler formulation. We find good agreement between the simulations based on the proposed $f_{gl}$ closure and the experimental data.