Development and validation of a comprehensive 1-D model to simulate gas hold-up and gas-liquid transfer in deep air-water bubble columns

This study proposed to develop a model coupling hydrodynamics and mass transfer in order to gain an understanding of measurements taken on air-water bubble columns with low gas hold-up. Three experimental datasets with various operating conditions (water quality, liquid height, air flow range) were chosen. The model analyzes and interprets the significant impact of the local hydrostatic pressure and the effects of contamination on hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters. The oxygen concentration in gas significantly depletes with the distance from diffusers, which explains the difference between the calculated mean of the local < k(L)a > and global K(L)a coefficients. This difference is highly significant for a high bubble column and/or systems with a low mean bubble size. The impact of water quality on mass transfer can be characterized by the contamination angle using comprehensive 1-D modeling and highlights a differentiated impact on the hydrodynamic or mass transfer parameters. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aimed to develop a model coupling hydrodynamics and mass transfer to understand measurements on air-water bubble columns with low gas hold-up. The model analyzed the significant impact of local hydrostatic pressure and contamination on hydrodynamic and mass transfer parameters, showing that oxygen concentration in gas decreases significantly with distance from diffusers. The impact of water quality on mass transfer can be characterized by the contamination angle, highlighting a differentiated impact on hydrodynamic or mass transfer parameters.