Liquid dispersion, gas holdup and frictional pressure drop in a packed bubble column at elevated pressures

The gas holdup, fictional pressure drop and liquid dispersion have been inv estigated in a packed bubble column at elevated pressures for the air-water system. The bubble column, which had an internal diameter of 0.15m and whi ch was packed with 15 mm plastic Pall rings was operated in the semibatch m ode. The operating pressures ranged from 0.1 to 0.66 MPa. It was found that increasing the pressure increases both the gas holdup and the dispersion c oefficient. In contradiction to the results obtained from packed bubble col umns fed with a continuous net flow of liquid, a maximum point of the frict ional pressure drop was observed at the transition point between bubble and pulse Row region. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.