Bubble column reactor

A bubble column reactor or a bubble column is by Helmut Gerstenberg first inserted procedural apparatus for gas / liquid processes. The bubble column is characterized by a liquid, is introduced into the gas bubbles into bubbles through the liquid and thereby produces a phase boundary between gas and liquid. The fumigation is in engineering bubble columns usually through a perforated bottom plate through which the gas flows. The liquid can be conveyed in cocurrent or in countercurrent. Bubble columns are used for heat and mass transfer for carrying out chemical reactions between a gas and a liquid, but also as a direct contact system among others.

Bubble column reactors are characterized in comparison to other gas -liquid contact apparatus by a high liquid content and a moderate phase boundary surface. So that the bubble column is particularly suitable for in relation to the slow absorption speed gas -liquid reactions, requiring a large volume of liquid at the same time low requirements on the phase interface. This is for a simple gas -liquid reactions in the region of Hatta number Ha <0.3 the case. If the typical bubble column strong mixing of the liquid leads to limitations for example due to equilibrium, the use of the bubble column cascade is also conceivable. Furthermore, the pressure loss of the gas flow due to the hydrostatic head of liquid is relatively high, which limits the field of use of bubble columns.

Application Examples

• Chemical and biochemical reactions between gas and liquid
• Absorption and desorption of gases
• Evaporation and condensation
• Preheating or cooling of the gas or liquid