The bale packings that are used as catalyst containing packings in reactive distillation columns are made and geometrically characterized. Pressure drop and holdup values are measured ina 10.4 cm i.d. glass column packed with bales using an air/water system. The arrangement of the bales in the bed is similar to that of industrial columns. The obtained data are used for evaluating the Stichlmair and the Eckert pressure drop models. Neither of these two models could fit the data properly. When a slight modification is made in the Eckert model, aspecific model which fits the data well is prepared. This model also accounts for the effect of geometrical characteristics of the packed bed on pressure drop. It is then evaluated using the experimental data of Subawalla and co-workers on a nonreactive binary distillation system in which the bale geometry and the bale arrangement in the test column is different from that of the present work. A good agreement between their data and the new model is observed at low to moderate F factor values. The deviation from the data at higher F factors is also discussed.