A 0.3 m diameter trickle-bed reactor filled with porous alumina cylinders is used to study the influence of the catalyst loading method on liquid distribution. The study compares the performances of the dense and the sock loading methods in terms of radial liquid spreading. Measurements were performed using two wire mesh tomography devices, placed, respectively, 0.33 and 0.96 m below the liquid distributor. The obtained results show that, in opposition to general agreement, sock packed beds seem to distribute liquid better than dense packed beds. This surprising result may be tentatively explained by a larger anisotropy of the dense loading. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.