In this contribution, a wire-mesh sensor is used for experimental determination of the phase distribution in packed columns and for validation of the cell model, that was introduced by van Holt at al. Subsequently, the model is fitted to the experimental data and extrapolated to larger column dimensions. Validation of the model is carried out by comparison of simulation results to literature data. In this context, the tracer application in the wall area is shown as a suitable data basis for model adaptation.