Relation between Bubble Dispersion and Liquid Flow Field in Bubble Columns: A Complementary Study using Ultrafast X-Ray Tomography and Radioactive Particle Tracking

Bubble column reactors are widely used in chemical and petrochemical industries due to their simple design and beneficial mass and heat transfer rates. The design of bubble columns requires thoughtful information about the complex gas-liquid hydrodynamics. The bubble size distribution, which results from bubble-liquid interactions, has a crucial impact on the reactor performance. Furthermore, reliable modeling of bubble columns requires validated hydrodynamic information.
In the present work, Radioactive Particle Tracking (RPT) and Ultrafast X-Ray Tomography (XRT) were applied for the first time at one bubble column setup to study the liquid velocity field and the corresponding bubble size distributions at different axial positions. In particular, the relation between the bubble dispersion, i.e. size and velocity, and the liquid flow field will be discussed. The velocity distribution of the liquid phase influences the bubble breakup and coalescence rates and accordingly the bubble size. In turn, turbulence and recirculation of the liquid phase depend on the bubble sizes. This mutual interaction will be revealed based on experiments with different distributer designs.