Analysis of frequency responses of model flows of liquid in trickle beds

Abstract

Frequency responses have been derived for four mathematical models of the trickle flow in a packed bed column. The models contain gradually one to four parameters. Asymptotic expressions have been also obtained for the frequency responses under large values of the Peclet number. A possibility has been tested of using the complex arithmetic feature of a computer to evaluate numerically the model responses and to separate the real and the imaginary part of the response. Analysis has shown that all four models can be discriminated and their parameters are observable in the complex plane. This approach thus appears plausible for processing real experimental data as well as for the discrimination between various models.