A simplified capillary model is presented to simulate the hydrodynamic structures in cryogel continuous beds and particle packed beds. In this model, it is assumed that: the wall thickness of a capillary is proportional to its inner-diameter; the pore size distribution of the cryogel continuous bed has a linear relationship to that of the dry skeleton; all capillaries have the same tortuosity; and under the general application conditions, the dimensionless breakthrough curves of the capillaries with inner-diameters of greater than 3 mu m are the same. The simplified model is verified using four continuous bed columns and two particle packed bed columns. The predict results agree with the experimental data, and the relative deviations are less than 2%. The simplified capillary model has fewer parameters and requires fewer calculations. It is reasonable, effective, and feasible for modeling cryogel continuous beds and particle packed beds. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.