A hydrodynamic model for air-lift reactors

A generalized hydrodynamic model for industrial air-lift reactors has been developed. The model has been adapted to the industrial system with experim ental data collected in an air-lift pilot plant operating with water/butano l as the liquid phase. The model calculates liquid circulation velocity and gas hold-up, parameters which are needed for the industrial general air-li ft model for performance prediction. Agreement between the hydrodynamic mod el and pilot experimental points is shown to be fairly good. In addition, m easurements of bubble diameter in the water/butanol medium are presented. T hey are used for interfacial area calculation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.