A systematic study of liquid phase axial dispersion was conducted in glass columns (inner diameters, 1 cm and 1.6 cm), packed randomly with granular sand, by varying the fluid flow rate, particle size and bed height. Pulse and step response techniques, with KCl as an inert tracer, were used. The resultant data, covering the Reynolds number range from 1 to 50, are presented as plots of the Peclet number based on particle diameter against Reynolds number. Inert tracer experiments were also carried out in a column (inner diameter, 1.6 cm) packed with activated carbon granules, using different particle sizes, fluid flow rates and bed heights, in order to estimate the effective intraparticle diffusivity. We show that flow maldistribution produces pulse response curves with sharp, narrow peaks which, when compared with theoretical curves, result in small intraparticle diffusivities. We illustrate how the outer-phase transfer function can be obtained from the overall transfer function of the activated carbon bed and we compare it with the transfer function obtained directly using impermeable particles similar to the activated carbon granules.