Imaging of liquid distribution in reactive distillation packings with a new high-energy x-ray tomograph

We describe a new, high-energy (420 kV), large-scale (0.45 m in diameter, 4 m in height) x-ray tomograph developed to investigate gas and liquid flow through fixed bed like absorption, distillation and reactive distillation columns. The first results obtained with this set-up on test objects (physical phantoms), such as a cylindrical container filled with water or a large diameter structured metallic packing, validate the technique as a quantitative tool for geometrical measurements. Very detailed two-dimensional (21)) and three-dimensional (3D) images of a 0.09 m diameter KATAPAK-SP 12, a reactive distillation packing, are presented. Quantitative information relative to liquid hold-up distribution may be obtained from tomographic imaging performed on an irrigated column packed with this element.