Gas hold-up and bubble diameters in a gassed oscillatory baffled column

In this paper attempts are made to address how bubble behaviour in a batch oscillatory baffled column (OBC) contributes to the overall measured enhancement in mass transfer. A CCD camera is used to measure the bubble size distribution and the gas hold-up in the OBC. The experimental results of Sauter mean diameter and gas hold-up are correlated as a function of the power dissipation and superficial gas velocity, in order to allow for comparisons with published correlations for the mass transfer coefficient. In general, an increase in the oscillatory velocity causes an increase in the hold-up and a decrease in the Sauter mean diameter. Furthermore, we are able to show that the changes in the gas hold-up contribute more than the mean bubble size to the control of the mass transfer coefficient. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.