The hydrodynamic behavior of trickle bed and monolith reactors experiencing deposition from tines-contaminated feed flows was studied to assess the potential aptitude of monolith to be an alternative for disability of trickle bed reactors under filtration condition. Beds with equal collection surface area were subjected to single-pass kaolin + kerosene suspension and air flows to study the influence of filtration for different gas and liquid superficial velocities. It was found that for equivalent gas and liquid velocities, specific deposits in trickle bed are up to two times more than in monolith. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.