FLOW PATTERNS IN A SLURRY BUBBLE-COLUMN REACTOR UNDER REACTION CONDITIONS

The gas and liquid radioactive tracer response curves obtained in an industrial bubble column reactor of height to diameter ratio of 10 are analysed and the suitability of the axial dispersion model for interpretation of the results is discussed. The relationship between the tracer concentration distribution and measured detector response is calculated. It is found that the liquid can be considered well mixed and that the response of the soluble gas tracer (Ar-41) is possibly dominated by the dissolved gas. The one dimensional axial dispersion model cannot match all the experimental observations well and the flow pattern of the undissolved gas cannot be determined with certainty.