Investigation of countercurrent flow profile and liquid holdup in random packed column with local CFD data

Liquid holdup and mass transfer area are critical parameters for packed column design and CO2 capture efficiency prediction. In this paper, a framework was established for modeling the liquid-gas countercurrent flow hydrodynamics in a random packed column with pall rings. Besides the column-averaged information, the radial pall ring distribution, velocity, and liquid holdup profiles are obtained to study the entrance effect and the wall influence in the packed column. With local CFD data, the validated packing specific area ap and liquid velocity uL range for liquid holdup correlation is significantly expanded with respect to existing experimental or column-averaged CFD data. The proposed liquid holdup correlation $h_L \propto u_L^{0.44}$ indicates the random packed column falls in a viscous to turbulent transition regime and it covers a Reynolds Number range of [6.7-40.2]. The derived liquid holdup correlation is in good agreement with existing correlations developed using the column-averaged experimental data.