The hydrodynamic characteristics of liquid flow in a packed column are studied using model equations that are based on the volume average concept. The objective is to track radial variations in flow rates (or maldistributions) on a scale smaller than the equipment scale, but larger than the scale of the packing. Such models remain valid on a wide range of scales. Once a number of parameters such as voidage and permeability are determined, the model could be used for scale up purpose. We present the results of two and three dimensional simulation using a computational fluid dynamics solver. For several different inlet distributions, the development of flow patterns and the formation of the natural flow patterns near the wall are simulated. The simulation results on wall flow patterns are in reasonably good agreement with published experimental data.