Evaluation of pressure profiles and overall pressure drop for flow through annular packed bed configurations

A recently published model for the prediction of flow distributions in annular packed bed systems has been extended to provide pressure maps throughout the system and overall pressure drop. For a particular fixed filter design, the analysis shows that the best flow distribution (0.58% average deviation from uniform flow) and least overall pressure drop (7% less than the maximum) is obtained from a U-type flow arrangement with inward radial flow across the annular bed. A sensitivity analysis has revealed that the lowest overall pressure drop is obtained when flow maldistribution is minimal.