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Gas-liquid flows through porous media in microgravity: Packed Bed Reactor Experiment-2
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  • Brian Motil,
  • Mahsa Taghavi,
  • Vemuri Balakotaiah,
  • Henry Nahra
Brian Motil
NASA Glenn Research Center

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Mahsa Taghavi
University of Houston
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Vemuri Balakotaiah
University of Houston
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Henry Nahra
NASA Glenn Research Center
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Abstract

Experimental results on pressure drop and gas hold-up for gas-liquid flow through packed beds obtained from a second flight on the International Space Station are presented and analyzed. It is found that the gas hold-up is a function of the bed history at low liquid and gas flow rates whereas higher gas hold-up and pressure gradients are observed for the test conditions following a liquid only pre-flow compared to the test conditions following a gas only pre-flow period. Over the range of flow rates tested, the capillary force is the dominant contributor to the pressure gradient and is found to be linear with the superficial liquid velocity but is a much weaker function of the superficial gas velocity. The capillary contribution is also a function of the particle size and varies approximately inversely with the particle diameter within the range of the test conditions.
04 Nov 2021Submitted to AIChE Journal
04 Nov 2021Submission Checks Completed
04 Nov 2021Assigned to Editor
14 Nov 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
28 Dec 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
21 Jan 20221st Revision Received
23 Jan 2022Submission Checks Completed
23 Jan 2022Assigned to Editor
24 Jan 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
18 Feb 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
04 Mar 20222nd Revision Received
05 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
05 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
11 Mar 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
06 Apr 2022Editorial Decision: Accept