Hydrodynamics of multiphase flow in a trickle-bed filled with small particles under the supercritical condition

•The SCF was introduced into a TBR filled with small particles.•The SCF possessed both non-liquid and liquid-like properties at the same time.•A correlation used to predict the pressure drop with subcritical fluids was proposed.

Hydrodynamics experiments with respect to supercritical and subcritical fluids were conducted in a laboratory-scale trickle bed reactor filled with relatively small particles of 0.67–1.32 mm in diameter. Residence time distribution was measured with tracer injection, and the results indicated that the supercritical fluids (SCF) have non-liquid-like features. From the pressure drop fluctuations, the pulsing flow was observed with the increase of the supercritical fluid mass flux; clearly, it shows that SCFs possess liquid-like property. Based on the empirical relationship proposed by Al-Naimi et al. (2011), the experimental data for subcritical fluids could be well correlated, which results in a new correlation in the predication of the pressure drop for fluids at subcritical conditions.