Effects of internals on macroscopic fluid dynamics in a bubble column

The effects of internals on liquid mixing and gas-liquid mass transfer have rarely been investigated in bubble columns,and the commonly used measurement method overestimates significantly overall gas holdup.Firstly,gas holdup measurement method is improved by conducting multi-point liquid level measurement and using net fluid volume instead of bed volume to calculate gas holdup.Then,a stable conductivity method for liquid macromixing has been established by shielding large bubbles using#16nylon mesh.Subsequently,the influences of internal coverage(=12.6%,18.9% and 25.1%) on macroscopic fluid dynamics in a bubble column with a free wall area are systematically investigated.It is found that the presence of internals has a notable effect on macroscopic fluid dynamics.The overall gas holdup and gas-liquid volumetric mass transfer coefficient decrease,and the macromixing time decreases with the increase of internal cross-sectional area coverage.These are mainly caused by the uneven distribution of airflow due to the low resistance in the free wall area.This design makes maintenance easier,but in reality,the reactor performance has decreased.Further improvements will be made to the reactor performance based on such a configuration through flow guidance using baffles.