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Packed bed reactors that have a series of alternating layers of packing. A first packing layer has open body packing elements randomly packed in a layer up to about 10 packing elements deep; and a second packing layer has porous support elements of hydrophobic foam. The porous support elements are r

Packed bed reactors that have a series of alternating layers of packing. A first packing layer has open body packing elements randomly packed in a layer up to about 10 packing elements deep; and a second packing layer has porous support elements of hydrophobic foam. The porous support elements are randomly packed up to about 10 porous support elements deep. Further, the packing elements of the first layer include substantially cylindrical shapes and the porous support elements of the second layer include substantially rectilinear shapes. In some embodiments, the second layer supports microbial organisms in a biological reactor, and the first layer of open body packing provides fluid flow spaces to facilitate fluid flow and distribution, mass transfer, and to minimize channeling.

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What is claimed is: 1. A packed bed reactor comprising: a series of alternating layers of packing, the alternating layers of packing comprising: a first packing layer comprising open body packing elements; and a second packing layer comprising microorganisms supported by porous support elements com

What is claimed is: 1. A packed bed reactor comprising: a series of alternating layers of packing, the alternating layers of packing comprising: a first packing layer comprising open body packing elements; and a second packing layer comprising microorganisms supported by porous support elements comprising pores in the size range from about 15 to about 20 ppi, wherein a surface area-to-volume ratio of the porous support elements is greater than a surface area-to-volume ratio of the open body packing elements. 2. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the open body packing of the first packing layer comprises cylindrical packing. 3. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the first packing layer has a void space in the range from about 70 to about 95%. 4. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the first layer comprises substantially a monolayer of open body packing elements. 5. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the first layer comprises a layer up to about 10 packing elements deep. 6. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprises a foam having a surface area to volume ratio of about 35 to about 210 ft2/ft3. 7. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprises foam having a void space of from about 15 to about 25%. 8. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprise hydrophobic foam porous support elements. 9. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprise polyurethane foam porous support elements. 10. The reactor of claim 1, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer have a surface area to volume ratio of about 5 to about 20 times greater than a surface area to volume ratio of the open body packing elements. 11. The reactor of claim 10, wherein the second layer comprises up to about 10 layers of square porous support elements. 12. A packed bed reactor comprising: a series of alternating layers of packing, the alternating layers of packing comprising: a first packing layer comprising open body packing elements, the elements randomly packed in a layer up to about 10 packing elements deep; and a second packing layer comprising microorganisms supported by porous support elements comprising hydrophobic foam comprising pores in the size range from about 15 to about 20 ppi, the porous support elements randomly packed up to about 10 porous support elements deep; wherein the packing elements of the first layer and the porous support elements of the second layer are selected by shape to maintain a reactor bed void space within the range from about 50 to about 65%, and wherein a surface area-to-volume ratio of the porous support elements is greater than a surface area-to-volume ratio of the open body packing elements. 13. The reactor of claim 12, wherein the first packing layer open body elements comprises plastic cylinder shapes. 14. The reactor of claim 12, wherein the first packing layer has a void space in the range from about 70 to about 95%. 15. The reactor of claim 12, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprises a foam having a surface area to volume ratio of about 35 to about 210 ft2/ft3. 16. The reactor of claim 12, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprise foam having a void space of from about 15 to about 25%. 17. The reactor of claim 12, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer comprise polyurethane foam. 18. The reactor of claim 13, wherein the porous support elements of the second layer have a surface area to volume ratio of about 5 to about 20 times greater than a surface area to volume ratio of the open body packing elements. 19. A packed bed reactor comprising: a series of alternating layers of packing, the alternating layers of packing comprising: a first packing layer comprising open body packing elements, the open body packing elements randomly packed in a layer up to about 10 packing elements deep; and a second packing layer comprising microorganisms supported by porous support elements comprising hydrophobic foam comprising pores in the size range from about 15 to about 20 ppi, and the porous support elements randomly packed up to about 10 porous support elements deep; wherein the packing elements of the first layer comprise substantially cylindrical shapes and the porous support elements of the second layer comprise substantially rectilinear shapes and wherein a surface area-to-volume ratio of the porous support elements is greater than a surface area-to-volume ratio of the open body packing elements. 20. The reactor of claim 19, wherein the first packing layer has a void space in the range from about 70 to about 95% and the second packing layer has a void space of from about 15 to about 25%.