A novel airlift reactor enhanced by funnel internals and hydrodynamics prediction by the CFD method

► A novel airlift reactor enhanced by funnel internals at the top is developed in this study. ► A multiphase CFD model is developed for the hydrodynamics simulation in the studied reactor. ► CFD model can reproduce the experimental flow parameters well. ► The reactor can increase total gas holdup and reduce turbulent intensity, which make it more favorable to wastewater treatment.