Characteristics of a rotating packed bed

The mass transfer (stripping of ethanol) and pressure drop (water-air) of a rotating packed bed were investigated under 13-273 equiv of gravitational force with two packings. The results indicated that the mass-transfer coefficient (K_Ga) was enhanced due to the centrifugal force as compared to a conventional packed bed. An empirical correlation was also proposed, suggesting that the K_Ga value depends on the Gr_G number to the power of 0.25. As to pressure drop, the gas rate seems to be a more important factor than the liquid rate because of less liquid holdup under centrifugal force. A semiempirical equation was also developed to correlate the pressure drop data with good agreement.