Experimental studies of bubbly flow in a pseudo-2D micro-structured bubble column reactor using digital image analysis

A novel micro-structured bubble column reactor(MSBC) is studied experimentally in this work. Micro-structuring is realized by using a wire mesh inserted in a pseudo-2D bubble column reactor. Different flow configurations of the wire mesh are evaluated by means of visual observation. Three different regimes with bubble cutting, bubble cutting followed by re-coalescence and gas pocket formation was observed for different wire meshes for superficial gas velocities ranging from 5 to 50 mm/s. An advanced Digital Image Analysis technique (DIA) was used to determine the effect of wire mesh on the bubble size distribution, gas holdup and interfacial area. Detailed experiments were performed for wire meshes with mesh openings of 3.3 mm, 3.7 mm and 5.6 mm for superficial gas velocities ranging from 5 to 30 mm/s. Bubble cutting is observed at 3.7 mm mesh opening for superficial gas velocities up to 15 mm/s. At higher superficial gas velocities,the bubble breaks up to very small bubbles and bypasses the wire mesh unaffected.