Oscillatory pressure drops through a woven-screen packed column subjected to a cyclic flow

Abstract An experiment has been performed to investigate oscillatory pressure drop characteristics in packed columns (composed of three different sizes of woven screen) subjected to a periodically reversing flow of air. It was found that the oscillatory pressure drop factor increases with the kinetic Reynolds number (Re ω ) D h and with the dimensionless fluid displacement ( A o ) D h . Based on 92 experimental runs, correlation equations for the maximum and the cycle-averaged pressure drop factors in terms of these two similarity parameters are obtained. It is found that the value of the cycle-averaged pressure drop of the oscillatory flow in a packed column is four to six times higher than that of a steady flow at the same Reynolds number based on the cross-sectional mean velocity. At small Reynolds numbers, this pressure drop ratio depends only on the geometry of the woven screens and is independent of the Reynolds number (Re gw ) D h and the dimensionless fluid displacement ( A o ) D D h .