Behavior of bubbles in large scale bubble column.

Abstract

Experimental work was conducted with a 550 cm-diameter bubble column to find the influence of column diameter on circulating liquid flow, gas holdup, bubble size and bubble velocity. The relationship between average gas holdup and superficial gas velocity in the column is almost the same as that in a small-size bubble column. When comparing the bubble velocity observed with the results of past experiments, it becomes clear that no particularly unusual phenomenon due to the large scale of the column exists in the circulating flow. Bubble sizes obtained by means of the electric resistivity probe method are larger than those measured in past experiments in small-size bubble columns. The reason for this difference is discussed briefly.