Mechanistic pressure drop model for columns containing structured packings

A mechanistic model was developed to predict pressure drop and flooding in packed columns equipped with corrugated packing of the regular type. It was developed after considerating the interaction of falling liquid film with the gas phase, based on mass‐and momentum‐conservation equations. Among the most common structured packings, the behavior of the Mellapak and BX types was analyzed. The aim of this work is to demonstrate how mechanistic models, developed for simple geometry, can also be used to compute pressure drops in cases where the geometry is more complex, as with a structured packing. This approach, based on the geometric characteristics of the packing and measurable parameters such as liquid holdup, enables the development of a basic model by limiting the number of adjustable parameters, which are numerous in all the available models. Because of its nature, this model is extremely easy to extend to different types of structured packings.