Bubble columns are widely used in the process industries for both gas-liquid and gas-solid-liquid reactions. Their popularity stems from simple construction with no moving parts, good heat and mass transfer properties and high thermal stability.
The hydrodynamics are characterized by various flow patterns depending on the superficial velocity of the gas, properties of the liquid phase, column diameter, sparger design and height of dispersion.
Researchers at the University of Liege have demonstrated the ability of Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) to diagnose the functioning of the sparger. The images represent the hole pattern of the sparger which is totally unplugged at the top, half plugged in the middle and three quarters plugged at the bottom.
Research carried out at University of Leeds³ used Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) to measure void fraction wave characteristics and flow pattern in a bubble column with particular interest on flow pattern transitions. The mean gas holdup was determined from the conductivity tomograms.
Experiments were conducted for four sparger geometries; single quadrant, two quadrant, three quadrant and uniform. ERT detected the three flow patterns of discrete bubble flow, cluster bubbly flow and churn flow. Void fraction waves were detected across the entire range of gas superficial velocity. At low gas superficial velocity void fraction disturbances are less and as the gas velocity increases void fraction disturbances occur frequently as shown.
Key benefits include:
The application of electrical tomographic measurement techniques to bubble columns has been widely demonstrated.
- Improved understanding of bubble column behaviour
- Optimisation of sparger design producing more efficient systems with potential capital cost savings for new installations and increased throughput for existing systems
- Validation and optimisation of computer models
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