Gas Holdup in Turbulent Bed Contactor: Experiments and Prediction Model

Abstract

Knowledge of gas holdup is important for the development of the three-phase fluidized bed reactors. This work concerns the study of the effect of different operating conditions on gas retention in a turbulent bed contactor type 2 (TBC), such as superficial gas and liquid velocities, liquid to gas mass flows ratio (L/G), particle diameter and density, static bed height and free-open area of the supporting grid. The influence of the free area of the packing support grid (φ) on gas holdup was demonstrated and proved. The gas holdup increased to 22.92 % when φ decreased from 0.82 to 0.32. The experimental data (1746) led to the development of two correlations to predict gas holdup, one of which incorporated the ratio (L/G) which is an important design factor for gas-liquid contactors. The predicted results of holdup gas were in good agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords

• turbulent bed contactor
• gas holdup
• pressure drop
• supporting grid
• prediction model