Experimental Study on the Effective Particle Diameter of a Packed Bed with Non-Spherical Particles

An experimental study is conducted to determine the characteristics of frictional pressure drops of fluid flow in porous beds packed with non-spherical particles. The objective is to examine the applicability of the Ergun equation to flow resistance assessment for packed beds with non-spherical particles. The experiments are carried out on the POMECOFL facility at KTH. Hollow spheres and cylinders are used to pack the beds. Either water or air is chosen as the working fluid. The experimental data show that the Ergun equation is applicable to all the test beds if the effective particle diameter used in the equation is chosen as the equivalent diameter of the particles, which is the product of Sauter mean diameter and shape factor of the particles in each bed.