Intensification of bubble column performance by introduction pulsation of liquid

• Application of pulsation to the bubble column intensifies its operation.
• A wide range of data concerning hydrodynamics of pulsed-bubble columns is presented.
• Gas holdup in pulsed bubble column increased be order of magnitude.
• Model equation for gas hold-up in pulse-bubble column is presented.
• Bjerknes force is introduced in model consideration.

The application of pulsations at determined parameters to a bubble column can significantly modify the process of mass transfer. However, determination of these parameters is so difficult that it has not been done so far in a satisfactory way even for technical purposes. Hydrodynamics of pulsed-bubble columns has been a subject of a few research works published so far. This paper presents results of studies on flow hydrodynamics of gas bubbles in a glass pulsed-bubble column of square cross section with side D = 0.14 m and height H = 2.25 m, filled with water. Experiments were carried out at air superficial velocity UG ranging from 1.6 to 13.9 mm/s. Operating parameters of the pulsed-bubble column were measured in the frequency range f from 0 to 100 Hz and the amplitude of vibration exciter Xp from 0.25 to 2 mm. On the basis of results obtained so far it was shown that the application of pulsations at determined parameters to a bubble column caused a significant increase in the gas holdup. Based on the analysis of results of the measurements, model equations were developed to determine the Sauter diameters of bubbles and gas holdup during the pulsed-bubble column operation.