On the hydrodynamics of airlift reactors, Part I: Experiments

•CFD-grade data for model validation.•Locally resolved measurements in the riser and downcomer.•Reynolds stresses determined with micro-bubbles.•Transient behavior of airlift reactors.

It is more and more possible to design bubbly flow reactors with methods of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Measurements that can be used for model validation, however, are often missing, especially for complex setups like airlift reactors. Such measurements include locally resolved information about the dispersed and continuous phase, particularly the information about the flow field and interface structures are important. In the present work Reynolds stresses, liquid velocity and gas void fraction profiles as well as bubble size distributions are provided at several positions in the riser and the downcomer in a rectangular airlift reactor for this purpose. In addition, the hydrodynamics inside this airlift reactor are described in detail by the measured values.