Measured values of the coefficients of transverse and longitudinal dispersion (D-T and D-L, respectively) are reported for liquid low through granular packed beds. Measurements of D-T were made for 50 < Sc < 1950 and 300 < Pe(m) < 10(5), working with water at temperatures between 278 and 373 K, and values of D-L were measured for Sc 2 congruent to 750 and I < Pe(m). < 45, working with water at 293 K; nearly two hundred new data points are reported. The data obtained, together with data from other sources, both for gas and liquid flow, are reported in plots of Pe(T) vs Pe(m) and Pe(L) vs. Pe(m), in order to stress the influence of Sc on dispersion and elucidate the difference between liquid and gas behaviour. Empirical correlations are presented for the prediction of the dispersion coefficients (DT and DL) over the entire range of practical values of Sc and Pe(m)., and they are shown to give the dispersion coefficients with very good accuracy. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.