Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.80, No.6, 645-653, 2002
Structural properties of beds packed with ternary mixtures of spherical particles - Part II - Local properties
In this, the second part of a two part study of the structural properties of cylindrical beds packed with ternary mixtures of spherical particles, an experimental investigation in to the axial and radial voidage patterns found in such beds is described. An image analysis technique is used to determine the influence of different ternary Mixtures of particles on local voidage. Data for beds packed with mono-sized spherical particles are also presented for comparison purposes. Results demonstrate that the use of ternary mixtures reduces the local voidage of the packing matrix in comparison with mono-size beds. Apart from regions very close to the boundaries of the beds, both axial and radial voidage profiles are also flat and without any oscillation, resulting in a reduction in the variation in local voidage close to the boundaries of the bed, and producing a bed with properties much closer to the plug flow ideal.