Abstract
Hydrodynamics of a slurry bubble column have been investigated up to slurry concentrations of 40 vol.% and gas velocities of 0.26 m/s. High slurry concentrations represent high catalyst loading to increase reactor productivity, while high gas velocities would be required to increase reactor throughputs. The solid particles used are 35 μm glass beads representing typical particle size for catalytic slurry reactors. The two important hydrodynamic parameters investigated are gas holdup and solids concentration profiles. The average gas holdups decreased with increasing slurry concentration but the rate of decrease slowed down for higher slurry concentrations. The analysis of axial gas holdup profiles indicated that decrease in gas holdup due to solids addition could be attributed to a decrease in bubble breakup rates. The experimental gas holdups are compared with literature correlations and models. The axial distribution of slurry concentration followed the classical sedimentation–dispersion model. Effects of gas velocity on axial solids distribution are found to be minimal over the range of gas velocities investigated.
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