A study of non-wetting flow in a packed bed under the influence of gas flow has been carried out. Departing from the usual continuum models, a discrete and deterministic model for liquid flow has been presented to model the liquid flow from single and multiple point sources. Liquid flow is modelled based on force balance approach considering gas drag, bed resistance and gravity forces. Gas flow is modelled using k-epsilon model for turbulent flow. An X-ray flow visualization technique, developed by our group, is used to study the liquid flow paths in the packed bed. Liquid flow path and velocity has been obtained for various liquid and gas flow rate. Flow paths obtained from the simulation results are in good agreement to those obtained from flow visualization procedure under various conditions. Also, liquid distribution at the bed bottom is reported and compared with the experimental results. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.