THE INFLUENCE OF FLUID-MEHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYSTEM ON THE VOLUMETRIC MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENT AND GAS DISPERSION IN THREE-PHASE SYSTEM

Distribution of gas bubbles and volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k(L)a in a three phase system with different types of solid particles at different operation conditions were studied in this paper. The ranges of superficial gas and liquid velocities used in this study were 0.03-0.09 m/s and 0-0.1 m/s, respectively. The three different types of solid particles were used as a bed in the column (glass, d(p) of 3 and 6 mm and ceramic, d(p) of 6 mm). The experiments were carried out in 2D plexiglas column, 278 mmx20.4 mmx500 mm, and in cylindrical plexiglas column with the diameter of 64 mm and hight of 2000 mm. The k(L)a coefficient increases with gas and liquid velocities. The results show that the volumetric mass transfer coefficient has higher values in three phase system with solid particles in comparison to two phase system. The particles' properties (diameter and density) have major impact on oxygen mass transfer in three phase systems.