Innovative fast-dynamic tool to characterize maldistribution in gas-liquid multi-channel reactors.

• Development of a high temporal resolution tool to characterize fluid distribution. • Modelling of fluid characteristics using electric and flow phenomena. • Techniques of shadowgraphy and conductometry used for processing experimental data. • Investigation of fluid features under Taylor flow regime. In the field of structured reactors applied to multiphase reactions, the apparatus performance is related to the quality of the spatial distribution of fluids at the reactor inlet. This holds particularly true for monolith-type reactors since no flow redistribution is possible downstream in between the different parallel channels. In order to characterize the gas-liquid flows and their distribution in all the channels, a resistive sensor consisting in a printed circuit board with several annular electrodes has been developed, which can be scanned with high temporal resolution, of up to 20,000 Hz. This technique allows investigating flow features, such as gas holdup, bubble velocity, and bubble frequency, which are assessed in this work by shadowgraphy for a 12-channel monolith fed by air and water. Several treatment methods are evaluated, allowing the flow characteristics to be indirectly measured for Taylor flow regime conditions, with an accuracy of ±10% for bubble frequency and of ±20% for gas holdup and bubble velocity, with respect to the shadowgraphy. Thus, the innovative sensor can be used for industrial applications in order to distinguish the performance of gas-liquid distributors to provide uniform flow in multi-channel structured reactors. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]