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 investigated 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 which was packed with 15 mm plastic Pall rings was operated in the semibatch mode. 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 coefficient. In contradiction to the results obtained from packed bubble columns fed with a continuous net flow of liquid, a maximum point of the frictional pressure drop was observed at the transition point between bubble and pulse Row region. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.