THE BEHAVIOR OF SUSPENDED SOLID PARTICLES IN THE BUBBLE COLUMN

Abstract

The behavior of suspended solid particles in the bubble column was experimentally studied. The critical gas velocity for complete suspension of solid particles is affected by liquid flow near the gas distributor. The liquid flow is governed by the shape of the bottom of the column and the position of the gas distributor. On the other hand, gas bubbles rising through the column develop easily to large bubbles by the existence of a small amount of suspended solid particles, and therefore the gas holdup and the concentration distribution of the particles do not depend on the gas distributor and the shape of the bottom of the column. The dispersion coefficient of solid particles has the same value with that of liquid within the column without solid particles. The settling velocity of solid particles in the bubble column was correlated with the terminal velocity of those particles in stagnant liquid.