Particle-Fluid Mass Transfer in Fixed and Fluidized Beds

P. N. Dwivedi and S. N. Upadhyay'

Department of Chemi cal Engineering, lnstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi -22 1005, India
Previous experimental data on mass transfer between particles and fluid in fixed and fluidized beds are reana-
lyzed and correlating equations are developed for the various situations.
Introduction
Particle-fluid heat or mass transfer in fixed and fluidized
beds is an important item of the basic information required
for the design and development of various heat and mass
transfer operations and chemical reactors involving a system
of particles and a fluid. I t has been widely investigated during
the past three decades and the volume of the literature on the
subject is enormous (Upadhyay and Tripathi, 1975a). Ex-
perimental measurements have been made with gases and
liquids. The gas-phase mass transfer rates have been mea-
sured for the absorption of liquid vapors from the gaseous
streams and evaporation of liquids from the surface of porous
particles and sublimation of suitable solids into gaseous
streams. I n the case of liquids, most of the data have been
obtained by measuring the rate of dissolution of suitable solids
into a liquid stream. In a few cases the data have been ob-
tained by measuring the rate of adsorption, ion-exchange, or
crystallization or by measuring the diffusion current using a
suitable electrochemical system.
I n most of the previous studies, the experimental results are
expressed in terms of the dimensionless groups; however, in
some cases the mass transfer coefficient is directly related to
operating variables such as flow velocity, particle diameter,
etc. The usual dimensionless groups used are the Chilton-
Colburn mass transfer factor (Chilton and Colburn, 1934),
Sherwood number, Schmidt number, and a particle Reynolds
number. I n some cases, other dimensionless groups such as
the particle to column diameter ratio or particle diameter to
bed height ratio, Archimedes number, N A ~ , are also included
to improve the correlations. Further, the various conventional
dimensionless terms are defined differently by research
workers. The common definition for the mass transfer factor
is one which includes the Schmidt group with an exponent of
2/ 3; however, in some cases it has been redefined with 0.58 as
the exponent. The characteristic length parameter in the
Reynolds and Sherwood numbers is usually the equivalent
particle diameter or the hydraulic diameter for a particulate
system. Occasionally it has been modified by incorporating
a term known as shape factor. Similarly, the mass flow rate
used is either the superficial flow rate, G, based on the empty
column cross section, or the effective mass flow rate ( GI )
through the bed. Based on these, the following three forms of
particle Reynolds numbers have been used.
N R ~ =DpGIF (1)
N R ~ , =DpGIpt (2)
NR~, , =DpGIg (1 - t ) (3)
The first particle Reynolds number, N R ~ , has been found
to be successful in correlating the data for various types of
packed and fluidized beds. The second Reynolds number,
N R ~ ~ , has been used for correlating packed bed data and was
introduced by McCune and Wilhelm (1949) for correlating the
liquid-phase data. The third Reynolds number, NR~, , , has been
found successful in correlating the fluidized bed data and was
used for the first time by Ishino and Otake (1951) for corre-
lating liquid fluidized bed data. I n one or two cases (Sengupta
and Thodos, 1962a; Taecker and Hougen, 1949) the particle
Reynolds number has been defined as G<ly where A p is
the geometric surface area of the particle. I t easily reduces to
the particle Reynolds number, N R ~ , when v"&is replaced by
Dp because
Dp =0 . 5 6 7 6 (41
Usually two or more correlating equations, to cover different
ranges of particle Reynolds numbers, have been developed by
the majority of the workers. In almost all cases, these are valid
only within the particle Reynolds number ranges covered in
the particular investigation. Thus, the lack of uniformity in
the selection and definition of the correlating variables and
the availability of so many equations makes the selection of
a suitable working correlation for design purposes difficult.
I t therefore seems helpful to reanalyze the available published
data and to attempt to represent it in terms of simple corre-
lating equations for the entire range of particle Reynolds
number covered in the previous studies.
The Range of Published Correlations
In the past several attempts (Beek et al., 1971; Chu, 1956;
Chu et al., 1953; Colquhoum-Lee and Stepanek, 1974; De-
Acetis and Thodos, 1960; Ergun, 1952; Frantz, 1962; Gamson,
1951; Hughmark, 1972; Kat0 et al., 1970; McConnachie and
Thodos, 1963; Miyauchi, 1972; Riccetti and Thodos, 1961;
Sengupta and Thodos, 1962a,b; Upadhyay and Tripathi,
1975b; Weisman, 1955; Williamson et al., 1963; Yeh, 1961)
have been made to evolve generalized working correlations on
the basis of the then available data. These are listed with their
ranges in Table I. Some have attempted to develop conven-
tional linear correlations on the basis of logarithmic coordinate
plots (Beek et al., 1971; Chu, 1956; Chu et al., 1953; Colquh-
oum-Lee and Stepanek, 1974; Frantz, 1962; Gamson, 1951;
Hughmark, 1972; Kato et al., 1970; Miyauchi, 1972; Upadhyay
and Tripathi, 1975b; Weisman, 1955; Williamson et al., 1963)
whereas some have tried nonlinear relations (De-Acetis and
Thodos, 1960; Ergun, 1952; Sengupta and Thodos, 1962a,b).
Few have introduced new dimensionless groups in their cor-
relations (Kato et al., 1970; Sengupta and Thodos, 1962a), but
this has not helped in reducing the scatter of data. Even the
same group of workers (De-Acetis and Thodos, 1960;
McConnachie and Thodos, 1963; Riccetti and Thodos, 1961;
Sengupta and Thodos, 1962a,b) have frequently changed the
basis of their subsequent correlations without much justifi-
cation. Almost all have used only a minor cross section of the
published data which is a serious drawback in the universal
applicability of the correlations developed.
Present Approach
Available experimental mass transfer data for the various
systems reported in the literature were utilized to determine
Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977 157
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Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977 159
Table 111. Liquid-Phase Particle-Fluid Mass Transfer in Fixed and Fluidized Beds
Bed characteristics
Cross-
sectional
Particle
____________. dimension,
Author System Shape D,, cm cm E NS C NRe
Hobson and Thodos
(1949)a
McCune and Wilhelm
(1949)b
Gaffney and Drew
(1950)"
Dryden et al.
(1953y
Evans and Gerald
(1953)b
Dunn et al.
( 195 6)a
Selke et al.
(1956p
Fan et al. (1960)'
Williamson et al.
Bransome and
(1963)a
Trollope (1964)d
Rowe and Claxton
( 19 6 5)b
Venkateswaran and
Laddha (1966)a
Wilson and Geankoplis
(1966)a
Bhattacharya and
Raja Rao (1967yl
Snowden and Turner
(1967)b
Upadhyay and Tripathi
(1972, 1975)b
Singh (1973)a
1-Butanol-
water; methyl
ethyl ketone-
water
water
2-Naphthol-
Salicylic acid-
benzene ; succinic
acid-1-butanol;
succinic acid-
acetone
water; 2-
naphthol-water
Benzoic acid-
Benzoic acid-
Lead-mercury
cu2+-aq. Cuso,
Benzoic acid-
Benzoic acid-
MgS0,-aqueous
water
water
water
MgSO, solution
Benzoic acid-
Benzoic acid,
water
salicylic acid-
water
water; 60% aq.
propylene glycol
Adipic acid; benzoic
acid-water
Benzoic acid-
-
Benzoic acid-
water
Benzoic acid-
water; 60 % aq.
propylene glycol
0.475-
-
Spheres 0.94-
1.608 0.538
Modified 0.1275- 10.15 0.3547-
spheres and 0.638 0.9535
granules
spherical 1.29 0.621
pellets
Modified 0.633- 7.67 0.372-
Cylindrical
and modified
cylindrical
pellets
Granules
Spheres
Spherical
Granules
Spheres
Crystals
resin particles
Spheres
Spherical
pellets
0.625
0.0558-
0.211
0.205-
0.437
0.042-
0.085
0.0795-
0. 21
0.589-
0.604
(2.36-
8.24)
x 10-3
0.635-
0.9525-
1.27
1.27
9.69
5.4
1.9304-
3.6322
-
5.08
6.67
10.16
10.16
(square)
3.81
0.37
0.47-
0.91
0.446-
0.555
0.35
0.65-
0.9
0.431-
0.441
0.69-
0.84
0.26-
0.459-
0.632
0.555
Spheres 0.6375 6.66 0.401-
0.436
Cylindrical
pellets
Spherical
Cylindrical
and modified
cylindrical
pellets
Cylindrical
pellets
0.789- 5.2- 0.39-
0.43-
2.34 15.1 0.53
- -
0.677
0.5961- 3.901- 0.2681-
1.1968 7.22 0.9237
0.5425- 6.95- 0.337-
1.1968 4.27 0.4760
aFixed bed. bFixed and fluidized bed. CFixed and semifluidized bed. d Fluidized bed.
the relation between the mass transfer factor and three types
of Reynolds numbers defined by eq 1-3. The sources from
which the experimental data have been taken are listed sep-
arately for gas and liquid phases in Tables I1 and 111, respec-
tively. Many available data, especially for gas-phase systems
could not be used because of their abnormally low values.
The first attempt was made to correlate the mass transfer
factor directly against the three-particle Reynolds number
defined by eq 1-3. All the experimental data obtained from
the sources listed in Tables I1 and I11were plotted separately
as J d VS. NRe, NR~, and NR~,, plots. I n all these plots the ex-
perimental data of the various workers scattered widely. The
fixed bed data showed an effect of bed voidage for both gases
and liquids when plotted as J d vs. N R ~ or J d vs. NR~,. The
scatter of the data was much reduced in case of J d vs. NR~ , ,
plots. An exactly similar trend was exhibited by the fluidized
bed data in each case. The effect of bed voidage was most
clearly shown by the data of Malling and Thodos (19671,
776.3-
865.5
1189-
1505
159-
13258
814-
1147
991-
1113
123.5-
136.3
517-
1125
1020-
1540
940-
1140
6250
1310-
640-
1670
892
760-
70 600
794-
930
1125
572-
1350
767-
42 400
3.26-
34.9
6.8-1755
0.4176-
605
0.01027
19.48
0.92-71.6
15.7-
727
0.958-
24.3
5-130
0.0367-
0.8-3.92
52.3
2.75-
7.87-575
1342
0.001 582-
57.7
4.96-
5.8-10.5
0.3044-
1510
1610
0.01378-
195.4
McConnachie and Thodos (1963), and Rowe and Claxton
(1965), where the bed voidage range studied is quite wide.
The effect of bed voidage on J d (or J h) has also been ob-
served and considered by many previous investigators (Gupta
et al., 1974; Malling and Thodos, 1967; Pfeffer, 1964; Ruck-
enstein, 1962; Sengupta and Thodos, 1962a,b, 1963; Weisman,
1955; Whitaker, 1972; Wilson and Geankoplis, 1966) in their
correlations for packed and fluidized bed heat and mass
transfer. However, the conclusions arrived at are not consis-
tent. Weisman (1955) included bed voidage in his correlations
and observed that its exponent is a function of Reynolds
number. Gupta et al. (1974) and Sengupta and Thodos
(196213) found that heat and mass transfer factor is inversely
proportional to the bed voidage. Pfeffer (1964) has considered
its effect by including a complex function of bed voidage in
his analytically derived relation. Wilson and Geankoplis
(1966) pointed out that Pfeffer's function can be easily re-
placed by t - l without causing appreciable error. Ruckenstein
160 Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977
- 1 c
0 01
, RCWE b CLAXTCN (1965)
4 I-
I , I l l ~ I I I 1 , 0.01
i i
Dp Gl &
Figure 1. Effect of bed voidage on mass transfer factor. Open symbols,
gas-phase data; closed symbols, liquid-phase data.
(1962), on the basis of his model for heat and mass transfer in
fluidized beds, concluded that the Nusselt or Sherwood
number is inversely proportional to Malling and Thodos
(19671, however, observed that the transfer factors ( J d or Jh)
are inversely proportional to c1.19. Many workers (Chu, 1956;
Chu et al., 1953; Ergun, 1952; Frantz, 1962; Hughmark, 1972;
Miyauchi, 1972; Upadhyay and Tripathi, 1975b) have in-
cluded bed voidage only in their definitions of the various
dimensionless groups which are based on the hydraulic di-
ameter for a bed and the interstial velocity. Thus the situation
is far from clear and needs fresh attention.
In order to estimate the exact dependence of Jd on t, the
former is plotted against the Reynolds number, N R ~ in Figure
1 for the packed and distended beds of Malling and Thodos
(1967) and McConnachie and Thodos (1963) and ordered
packed beds of Rowe and Claxton (1965) containing only a
single active sphere. I n each case separate parallel relation-
ships are obtained for each bed voidage. For two chosen
Reynolds numbers, 200 and 1000, J d values evaluated from
Figure 1 when plotted against t as shown in Figure 2 produced
separate parallel straight lines with slopes -1. This is in
agreement with the conclusions drawn by Gupta et al. (1974),
Sengupta and Thodos (1962a,b), and Wilson and Geankoplis
(1966).
For verifying the above conclusion, experimental data for
all types of beds were plotted as t J d VS. NRe, NRe', and NRe "
plots. From these plots it was observed that the inclusion of
bed voidage along with the Chilton-Colburn Jd factor reduced
the scatter of the points considerably when plotted against
N R ~ and NR ~ , , but the scatter became more pronounced with
0 McCONI \AuHI E 8 THODOS
0 ROWE 8C- AXTON (1965) 1
A MALLING b THODOS (1967)
(1963)
0 0
01
Figure 2. Variation of Jd with e .
NR~, , . Similar behavior was also shown by the
J d vs. various Reynolds number plots prepared separately, but
the scatter of the data points was not better.
Correlation of the Data
The preliminary regression analysis was done to fit the well
tried form of relation between mass transfer factor and
Reynolds number, Le.
J =A Re-m (5)
Regression analysis of all the fixed and fluidized bed data was
first made separately and then collectively by taking pairs of
one of the J d, J d, t 1 l 9 J d, and t1.l C5J d factors and one of the
three particle Reynolds numbers at a time. A comparison of
the corresponding plots for gas and liquid phases indicated
that the entire gas-phase fixed bed data can be correlated by
a Single relation of the form of eq 5 in the range considered.
Similar behavior was also shown by the gas-phase fluidized
bed data. For the liquid-phase fixed bed data, no single rela-
tion of the form of eq 5 was valid. Hence two separate equa-
tions of the above form, one applicable for the lower N R ~ range
and the other for the higher range, were fitted. The complete
data were divided into two groups, one for N R ~ <10 and the
other for N R ~ >10. This division is purely arbitrary and is
based on personal judgment only. Hence, no theoretical sig-
nificance should be attached to h ' ~ ~ =10.
During the regression analysis some of the data shown in
various plots, which did not conform with the bulk of the data,
were not considered. For example, in the case of the gas phase,
the lower N R ~ range ( NR? <1) data of Bar-Ilan and Resnick
(1957) have to be omitted due to their considerably low values.
The data of Galloway et al. (1957) for some of the packing
arrangements were also discarded because of their abnormal
values and small variation with Reynolds number. Similarly,
a few data points of Hobson and Thodos (1951) and Sengupta
and Thodos (1963) have to be discarded due to their higher
values and nonconformity with the bulk of the data. In the
case of liquid-phase results, some data of Dryden et al. (1953),
Hobson and Thodos (1949), and Selke et al. (1956) have also
been discarded because of their larger deviations from the bulk
of the data.
These deviations might be due to one or more of the fol-
lowing factors: the predominance of natural convection and
back-diffusion at low flow rates, presence of protuberances
on the particle surface, inaccuracies in the evaluated or mea-
sured particle surface temperatures, nonadiabatic nature of
evaporation, differences in the temperatures at the top and
bottom ends of the bed, and presence of counterdiffusion. Low
flow rate data of Bar-Ilan and Resnick (1957) are likely to have
J d and t l
Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977 161
10
I
E 'd
01
00
0 01
DpG I U
Figure 3. Gas-phase mass transfer in fixed bed--cJd vs. D, G/ u ., Gamson et al. (1943); 0, Wilke and Hougen (1945); 0, Taecker and Hougen
(1949); 0, Hobson and Thodos (1951); A, Chu et al. (1953); 0, Satterfield and Resnick (1954); 0 Bar-Ilan and Resnick (1957); 0, Galloway
et al. (1958) ; 0, De-Acetis and Thodos (1960); V, Bradshaw (1961); 0, Riccetti and Thodos (1961); 0, McConnachie and Thodos (1963); V,
Sengupta and Thodos (1963); 0, Sengupta and Thodos (1964); ., Rowe and Claxton (1965); A, Malling and Thodos (1967); *, Petrovic and
Thodos (1967); *, Petrovic and Thodos (1968); +, Wilkins and Thodos (1969).
i
f J d 01
I
D p G W
Figure 4. Gas-phase mass transfer in fluidized bed-dd vs. D,G/F plot: A, Chu et al. (1953); 0, Bradshaw (1961); 0, Riccetti and Thodos
(1961); C) , Petrovic and Thodos (1967); 0, Wilkins and Thodos (1969); 0 Yoon and Thodos (1972).
been affected by the presence of back-diffusion and surface
protuberances. At the same time, a low rate of transfer ne-
cessitates a longer duration for the runs which in turn may
cause large changes in local surface areas and thereby affect
the transfer rates. Besides the effects of some of the factors
mentioned above, the results of Galloway et al. (1957) seem
to be in error due to a shortcoming in their experimental
procedure itself. They have studied the rate of drying of or-
dered beds of porous spheres soaked in water. After soaking,
162 Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977
the excess (unabsorbed) water was removed by shaking the
beds only. This procedure does not ensure the complete re-
moval of the free (unabsorbed) water. The presence of large
amount of free water is likely to change the effective transfer
areas and mode of mass transfer and hence ultimately may
lead to abnormal transfer factors. In the case of Hobson and
Thodos (1951) and Sengupta and Thodos (1963), errors might
have been introduced due to surface roughness, inaccurate
surface temperatures, the nonadiabatic nature of vaporization,
-t--------
~-____ -
0 001 0 01 01 I 10 I00 1000 IOPOO
D p G / U
Figure 5. Liquid-phase mass transfer in fixed bed-dd vs. D,G/p plot: 0, Hobson and Thodos (1949); V, McCune and Wllhelm (1949); A,
Gaffney and Drew (1950); 0, Dryden et al. (1953); 0, Evans and Gerald (1953); 0, Dunn et al. (1956); 0, Selke et al. (1956); e, Fan et al. (1960);
0, Williamson et a1 (1963); a, Rowe and Claxton (1965); 0, Venkateswaran and Laddha (1966); 0, Wilson and Geankoplis (1966), 0, Bhattacharya
and Raja Rao (1967); +, Snowden and Turner (1967); A, Upadhyay and Tripathi (1972); 7 , Singh (1973)
and differences in the top and bottom bed temperatures.
Higher values of transfer factors reported by Hobson and
Thodos (1949) and Selke et al. (1956) might be due to the
presence of counterdiffusion which none of these workers have
considered. Selke et al. (1956) have made only a casual refer-
ence to its effect. Hobson and Thodos (1949) too have not
mentioned anything about the presence of a free (unabsorbed)
solution and the method used for its removal. Besides this,
their concept of a solvent-rich film in equilibrium with a sat-
urated solute-rich film and the evaluation of transfer rates by
extrapolation to a zero time is also questionable. The results
of Dryden et al. (1953) are likely to be affected by surface
protuberances. The analysis procedure employed may not give
true exit concentration at very low flow rates.
The regression analysis results for the various situations
considered are presented in Tables S1 and S2. (Deposited as
supplementary material. See the paragraph at the end of the
paper regarding supplementary material.) These results also
confirmed the conclusions arrived at from the visual obser-
vation and comparison of the various plots that the fixed and
fluidized bed data can be best correlated either in terms of t J d
and N R ~ or N R ~ J or in terms of the J d and NR~, , . Plots of t J d
vs. N R ~ for fixed and fluidized beds for liquid and gaseous
phases are shown as typical examples in Figures 3-6. I n order
to avoid overcrowding of data points, gas- and liquid-phase
data and the corresponding fixed and fluidized bed data in
each case are plotted separately.
I n order to develop generalized correlations, on the basis
of both gas- and liquid-phase results, which can be used for
design purposes, all the data were processed together. Only
d d vs. N R ~ and N R ~ J , and J d vs. NR~, , relations were consid-
ered. The trend of the experimental data is shown by differ-
ently bounded areas in Figure 7. The regression analysis of the
entire data was made by dividing them into two groups, one
for N R ~ <10 and other for N R ~ >10. The gas-phase data for
' O r - - - - ' '
k\-.<<J d-l 1068N~( ; ' ' ~ V M c t U N E B WI L HEL M 1 , 9 4 9 1
0 EVANS B GERb L O 119531
BRb NSOME B TROLLOPE 119641
ROWE B CL A X T ON 119651 I
\ .
4 S Y O WD E N a TURNER 119671 3
\ * . m .
\
Jd I
c z
-
I GO L-
o CD 000 0 300 C I
3pc LL
Figure 6. Liquid-phase mass transfer in fluidized bed--tJd vs. DpG/p
plot.
N R ~ <10 were not included because they deviated too much
from the corresponding liquid-phase data. From a comparison
of the values of the percent deviations for the above three cases
it was observed that the best correlating equations for use with
both fixed and fluidized beds are
t J d =1.1068 N R , - ~ , ~ ~ ~ ~ (for N R ~ <10) (6)
and
t J d =0.4548 N R ~ - ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ (for N K ~ >10) ( 7 )
which correlate all the data with average deviations of 23.15
and 16.83%, respectively. These equations are compared with
the experimental data in Figures 3-6.
A serious objection against the above form of correlations
is the range of their applicability and the arbitrary nature of
the limiting Reynolds number. Further, it is also clear from
the various plots presented in Figure 7 that the data in the
Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977 163
REYNOLDS NUMBER
Figure 7. Mass transfer in fixed and fluidized beds-overall correlations: -, liquid-phase fixed bed data; - - -, liquid-phase fluidized bed data;
-.-.- , gas-phase fixed bed data;. . . ., gas-phase fluidized bed data.
entire range of Reynolds number (0.01-15 000) can be corre-
lated by a single nonlinear correlation which will be more
handy to use. The curved nature of these plots suggests that
a relation similar to that developed by Gupta et al. (1974) for
particle-fluid heat transfer in fixed and fluidized beds can be
fitted. The iterative least-squares analysis with minimization
of residual errors gave
0.765 0.365
d d =- +~
NRe0.82 NRe0.386
which correlated the data with an average deviation of 17.95%.
The average deviations for corresponding d d - NR~, and J d
- NR~ , , relations were again slightly higher. The three non-
linear relations thus developed are shown in Figure 7.
The validity of the proposed equations beyond the Reyn-
olds number ranges for which these have been developed will
be limited due to uncertainty in the nature of the experimental
data at very low and high Reynolds number. I t would be ad-
vantageous to obtain more experimental data in these regions.
Further, the authors have experienced great difficulty in se-
lection of the suitable data due to the lack of complete infor-
mation and differences in the methods of analysis of results
by various workers. Therefore it would be also advantageous
to follow a standard procedure for obtaining and reporting the
relevant data.
Conclusions
On the basis of the above discussion it can be concluded that
the mass transfer factor is inversely proportional to the bed
voidage, and gas and liquid-phase data can be best repre-
sented either by eq 6 and 7 or by eq 8. The recommended
equation, however, for use is eq 8 which can be used in the
184 Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol . 16, No. 2, 1977
entire N R ~ range of 0.01 to 15 000. The use of any one of the
above equations for evaluating the gas-phase mass transfer
rates for N R ~ <10 is not recommended because of a com-
pletely different trend shown by these systems.
Nomenclature
A =constant
A, =geometric surface area. L 2
a =total interfacial area of packing, L2/ L3
b =coefficient depending upon Reynolds number
C, =specific heat of fluid, QIMO
D =molecular diffusivity, L2/ t
D, =equivalent diameter of channel, (2c/3(1 - c))Dp, L
D, =equivalent particle diameter, L
d = bed diameter, L
f = area availability factor used by Sengupta and Thodos
(1962)
f =a function
G =superficial mass flow rate, M/ L2t
J = transfer factor (equal to J d or J h )
J d =mass transfer factor, ( k, / u) Nsc2/3
J h =heat transfer factor, (h/C G) NP,*'~
K =thermal conductivity, Q / t h
k , =mass transfer coefficient, L/ t
L =length, L
L =beddepth,L
L , =characteristic length parameter, L
Le =actual length of path taken by fluid in traversing depth,
L, of bed, L
M =mass, M
m =constant
Jd' = mass transfer factor, ( k, / u) N s ~ ~ , ~ ~
Npr =Prandtl number, ( gC, / K)
N R ~ =particle Reynolds number, (D,G/g)
N R ~ , =particle Reynolds number, ( D, G/ p)
NR~ , , =particle Reynolds number, (D,G/p (1 - c ) )
Ns, = Schmidt number, (p/ pD)
NSh = Sherwood number, ( k , D,/D)
Q =heat, Q
Re =Reynolds number, ( G LJ g)
T D =mass transfer factor for fixed beds defined by Yeh
TD =mass transfer factor for fluidized beds defined by Yeh
t =time
u =superficial fluid velocity, ( Gl p ) , Ll t
u, =actual velocity in packing channels, (ul c) ( Le/ L) , L/t
ut =average terminal free falling velocity of particles in still
fluid, L/ t
8 = temperature
e =void fraction
0 =maximum fractional void volume in fixed bed
p =absolute viscosity, M/ Lt
u = kinematic viscosity, L2/ t
p = density, MI L3
pf =density of fluid, M/ L3
ps =density of solid, M/ L3
4ea =shape factor used by Gamson (1951)
C# I =arrangement exponent
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Receiued for review February 12,1975
Accepted August 2, 1976
The authors are grateful to the Department of Electrical Engineering,
I nstitute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, for providing the
computational facilities and to the University Grants Commission,
New Delhi, for providing partial financial assistance.
Supplementary Material Available. Two tables of regression
analysis results for gas-phase and liquid-phase data (6 pages). Or-
dering information is given on any current masthead page.
Ind. Eng. Chem., Process Des. Dev., Vol. 16, No. 2, 1977
165