Wikisheet
Three phase trickle bed reactors

Various configurations of trickle bed reactors

Ranade, Chaudhary et al. (2011)

Objective Contribute to energy efficiency program

Background, Wikisheets Process Intensification within the PIN-NL program 2016
project
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Author Robin Vet
Co-author Henk van den Berg T 0115 648066 h.vandenberg@utwente.nl 
M 06 51536737
Second reading Henk Akse, chairman T 0348 424462 henk.akse@traxxys.com
and comments PIN-NL M 06 50748086
Version, date 17 February 2017 Document: Wiki-TBR-v3
Status Version 3 Comments:

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1. Description

Three phase trickle flow reactors are multiphase systems where liquid and gas are contacted with
solid catalyst. These systems can be used when liquid and gas reactants have to be processed in
presence of a solid catalyst when liquid volatilization is uneconomical. Catalyst is wetted from
liquid distributed from the top of the reactor, forming a film or rivulets over the catalyst surface.
Conventionally, solid particles are randomly packed in a bed. However, structured packings and
monoliths can also be implemented. The catalyst loading in both packings is substantially higher
than in other multiphase reactors. The gas phase can flow in concurrent or counter current
direction of the liquid depending on the application.

2. Process envelope

Trickle bed reactors have shown several advantages over other multiphase reactors like slurry
reactors. High reaction rates per unit reactor volume can be achieved at low power requirements.
Due to high catalyst to liquid ratio undesired non-catalysed reactions can be suppressed. The
reaction can be operated in plug flow and at high pressures.
A few important factors to take in to consideration when choosing a trickle bed reactor is the
longer-term catalyst stability and durability. However, these challenges can be overcome via
research towards new or adjusted catalysts.

Table 1 Comparison of different types of multiphase reactors

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The gas to liquid ratio determines to a great extend the flow regime in the trickle-bed reactor.
Important is to know what determines the reaction rate – the chemical reaction or the transfer
mechanism. Important variables are furthermore: flow regimes, pressure drop, liquid holdup,
catalyst wetting, residence time distributions and heat transfer. Typically, industrial-scale trickle-
bed are of large diameter and operate adiabatically. The biggest challenge lies in the scale-up of a
trickle flow reactor as poor design can lead to partial catalyst wetting and maldistribution of
fluids and heat. Therefore, gas-liquid distribution is an important part in the design and
implementation (Maiti 2007). The key issue is to model the two-phase flow and fundamentally tie
pressure drop, hold-up, and wetting efficiencies. CFD modelling has a significant position in the
prediction of gas-liquid distribution and is consequently an important research topic (Ranade,
Chaudhari et al. 2011)
Dudokovic et al. (2013) indicate operation ranges. “Liquid superficial mass velocity, L (i.e.,
liquid mass flow rate divided by the cross-sectional area of the empty reactor) usually is in the
range between 1 and 50 kg m-2 s-1. Gas superficial mass velocity, G typically is from l0-3 to 25 kg
m-2 s-1.” And: “Trickle flow persists at low liquid velocities (L < 5 kg m-2 s-1) and up to moderate
gas velocities (G < 1 kg m-2 s-1).”

3. Avantages

- Enables reactions of fluid phases (gas and liquid) on a solid catalyst by intensive contact
- Efficient mass and heat transfer and use of catalyst

4. Commercial status / TRL level

The trickle bed reactor is a technique widely used in the petrochemical, fine chemical and even
biochemical industries. Materials processed via the three phase trickle bed reactor is about 1600
million metric tons per year (Ranade, Chaudhari et al. 2011). With its origin in water treatment,
the multiphase reactor system is now mainly used in three application areas:
 Hydrogenation
 Hydroprocessing
 Oxidation
It is widely used in petroleum industry for the handling of large amounts of materials like
hydrosulfurization, hydrodenitrogenation, hydrodemetallization and hydrotreating for oil
refinement.
Applications in chemical processing include hydrogenation of nitrogen containing compounds,
synthesis for butynediol and production of sorbitol. Trickle beds are also well suited for the
oxidation of dilute aqueous solution of organic pollutants.
Some applications include (Dudukovic, Kuzeljevic et al. 2000); bio applications like operation
with immobilized cells or enzymes; processing of streams laden with fine solids in exploitation of
tar sands and synthesis of biofuels; application of monolith and micro trickle reactors.
We may conclude that the TRT level is high, say 9.

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5. Examples of application

Ranade et al. (2011) provide the following overview of applications:

Reaction Process Catalyst Pressure Temperature

Type (MPa) (K)
Oxidation Ethanol oxidation Pd/Al 2 343-373
reactions Wet oxidation of phenol Pt/Al2O3 3-10 100-200
Oxidation of formic acid/oxidation of organic Co/SiO2- 0.1-1.5 300-403
matter in waste water treatment/oxidation of AlO2,
phenol CuO
Petroleum Hydrodesulfurization Mo-Ni 20-80 593-653
processing Hydrodenitrification
Hydrodemetallization
Hydrodemetallization
Catalytic hydrocracking/catalytic hydrofinishing
Catalytic dewaxing, dearomatization
Hydrogenation Hydrogenation of various petroleum fractions, Pd,Pt, Ni, 3-10 323-423
reactions nitrocompounds, carbonyl compounds, Cu
carboxylic acids to alcohols (adipic acid to 1,6-
hexanediol)
Selective hydrogenation of acetylene to Au/Al, 0.1-2.5 313-523
separate compound Pd/Al2O3
from C4 fraction in the presence of butadiene
Hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde and a- 0.05% Pd 0.1-5 373-773
methylstyrene to on Al2O3
cumene
Hydrogenation of 2-butyne-1,4-diol Ni 10-30 350-450
Hydrogenation of caprolactone and adipic acid Cu 15-25 450-550
Hydrogenation of aniline to cyclohexylaniline Pd/Al2O3 3-20 298-313
Hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol Ru/C 8 373-393
Hydrogenation of maleic anhydride Raney 1-5 200-400
nickel,
Pt/C
Hydrogenation of acid esters to alcohols
Hydrogenation of coal liquefaction extracts Ni- 7 593-623
Mo/Al2O3
Esterification Esterification of acetone and butanol Strong
acidic ion
exchange
resin
F-T synthesis Fischer-Tropsch reaction Co/TiO2 10-50 450-650

6. Technology and developments

Although trickle bed reactors have been used for decades, fundamental modelling is still not
finished. Empirical correlations and pilot test are important in design and scale up.
Several variants in trickle bed reactors were developed to account for specific requirements of
different applications.

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Monolith reactors
The application of monoliths as a solid phase (Roy, Bauer et al. 2004) can increase mass transfer
rates at lower pressure drops. The active catalyst material is coated which reduces pore diffusion
limitations in a significant amount.

Micro trickle bed reactors

Process intensification towards micro reactors can provide many advantages in terms of mass and
heat transfer. With better control over the residence time distribution and enhanced process
safety, these systems are explored more thoroughly to be implemented in a wide variety of
systems including trickle bed reactors (Ranade, Chaudhari et al. 2011).

GSS trickle bed

In a gas-solid-solid trickle bed reactor (Nikačević 2007), gas is flow co- or counter-currently
passed fine solid particles through a second packed bed solid phase. Applications could be found
in methanol and ammonia production. Advantages of this type of trickle bed reactor include low
pressure drops, high heat and mass transfer rates with low axial mixing in both flowing phases.

Four phase trickle bed

A new application is the four phase trickle bed reactor in which an organic and aqueous liquid
phase are present in combination of a solid catalyst and gas reactant. Because this catalyst is
hydrophilic, it preferentially attracted water to its surface. The higher flow allows the organic
solution to penetrate the aqueous film on the catalyst surface. The secondary liquid phase is
required to dissolve the reaction product (Yamada, Ohashi et al. 2012).

7. Potential for industrial branches

Waste Water Treatment facilities (MJA3)

Chemical industry (MJA3 + MEE)
Metallurgical industry (MJA3 + MEE)
Oil and Gas production (MJA3)
Other industries (MJA3 + MEE)
Raffineries (MEE)
Rubber- and Polymer industry (MJA3)

8. Self-assessment for application

Consider trickle bed for reactions of fluid phases (gas and liquid) on a solid catalyst.
Requirement of multi-phase reaction system, choose between slurry and trickle bed.
Trickle bed when:
 Large catalyst particles >0.2mm
 Large content required for solid phase
 Difficult catalyst separation
 Plug flow operation is favored
 High pressures are required
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 Low exothermic reaction and heat transfer is of less importance

9. Tags

Process intensification, multi-phase reactors, gas-liquid-solid reactor systems.

10. References

M.P. Dudukovic, Z.V. Kuzeljevic, D.P. Combest, “Three-Phase Trickle-bed Reactors” in

Ullmann’s Encyclopaedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2013. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH &Co.
R. N. Maiti and K. D. P. Nigam, “Gas-Liquid Distributors for Trickle-Bed Reactors: A Review”
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2007, 46, 6164-6182
N.M. Nikačević, “Gas-Solid-Solid Trickle Flow Reactors”. Technology Report, European
Roadmap of Process Intensification, 2007.
Vivek V. Ranade, Raghunath V. Chaudhari, Prashant R. Gunjal, “Trickle Bed Reactors”. Elsevier
2011. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-444-52738-7.10001-4
S. Roy, T. Bauer, M. Al-Dahhan, P. Lehner, T. Turek, “Monoliths as Multiphase Reactors: A
Review”, AIChE Journal 50 (11) 2918-2938 (2004) DOI 10.1002/aic.10268

H. Yamada, Y. Ohashi, T. Tagawa, “Comparison of Gas−Liquid−Liquid−Solid Four-Phase

Trickle-Bed Reactor with Upflow Reactor under High Liquid Flow Rate”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.
2012, 51, 8835−8839

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