This paper demonstrates that a newly designed packing structure can be
additively manufactured, and that a more uniform liquid distribution is
achieved with it. Preliminary computational fluid dynamics simulations
eliminate the necessity to manufacture every developed geometry when
optimizing packing structures. This work simulates the liquid flow
inside two packing structures with an enclosing wall at laboratory
scale. The periodic setup permits simulations of the liquid distribution
in a large part of the column even for complex packing structures. A
novel method for the systematic evaluation of the liquid distribution is
applied to the simulation results and subsequently validated with
experimental data. The results are used to improve the liquid
distribution inside laboratory-scale packing structures.