  Vertical packed columns are widely used in absorption, stripping and
distillation processes. Flooding will occur in the vertical packed columns as a
result of excessive liquid accumulation, which reduces mass transfer efficiency
and causes a large pressure drop. Pressure drop measurements are typically used
as the hydrodynamic parameter for predicting flooding. They are, however, only
indicative of the occurrence of transition of the flow regime across the packed
column. They offer limited spatial information to mass transfer packed column
operators and designers. In this work, a new method using Electrical
Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is implemented for the first time so that
real-time flow regime monitoring at different vertical positions is achieved in
a countercurrent packed bed column using ECT. Two normalisation methods are
implemented to monitor the transition from pre-loading to flooding in a column
of 200 mm diameter, 1200 mm height filled with plastic structured packing.
Liquid distribution in the column can be qualitatively visualised via
reconstructed ECT images. A flooding index is implemented to quantitatively
indicate the progression of local flooding. In experiments, the degree of local
flooding is quantified at various gas flow rates and locations of ECT sensor.
ECT images were compared with pressure drop and visual observation. The
experimental results demonstrate that ECT is capable of monitoring liquid
distribution, identifying flow regime transitions and predicting local
flooding.
