HYDRODYNAMICS AND MASS-TRANSFER IN A SUSPENDED SOLID BUBBLE-COLUMN WITH POLYDISPERSED HIGH-DENSITY PARTICLES

Hydrodynamics and gas-liquid mass transfer are studied in a bubble and slurry bubble column. The investigations are made in a small scale (I D 0.1 m; height: 2 m) column using two batches of polydispersed and de nse pyrite particles (rho(s) = 4500 kg/m(3)). These experiments were a lso made with glass beads of different sizes (38, 85 and 160 mu m), to compare with literature results. The evolution of the gas holdup and the volumetric gas-liquid mass transfer coefficient with the particle diameter obtained in the case of glass beads indicates the existence o f a critical particle diameter corresponding to the maximum values of these parameters. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.