Numerical simulation of gas holdup in nocoalescence media of industrial-scale bubble column

A bubble column is an industrial-scale wet filtration facility that contains non-coalescence media. To overcome the experimental challenges, numerical simulation was employed to investigate the influence of various factors on the whole gas holdup epsilon(t). These include the bubble diameter d(s), initial liquid height H-s, column diameter, Dc, the number of bubbling orifices N, and the configuration of bubbling orifices. Two magnitudes of the superficial gas velocity U-G, were selected to represent the homogeneous and heterogeneous flow regimes, respectively. The relationship between epsilon(t) and d(s) changed within different d(s) ranges. The proportion of the developing region in the total liquid height is an important factor that influences epsilon(t). For an "industrial-scale " column, epsilon(t) increased with N when N < 49, but becomes insensitive to N when N > 49. The configuration of bubbling orifices significantly influences et when N > 49. The results of this study show the need to optimize the bubble column and improve the operating performance of filtered containment venting systems.