Phase holdup and interfacial area between gas and liquid in bubble columns and three phase fluidized beds have been studied in a 15.2Cm I.D. X 190Cm height column, sodium sulfite solution(0.8 mol/1) and air were used as the liquid and gas phases respectively. Four different sizes of glass beads of liquid velocity(3-12 Cm/s) gas velocity(2-10 Cm/s) and particle size(0-8 mm) on gas-liquid interfacial area have been determined.
The gas-liquid interfacial area and gas phase holdup have been correlated with the operating variables in bubble columns and three phase fluidized beds as:
For bubble columns
$\varepsilon_g=0.725U_g^{0.5859}U_l^{-0.00304}$
$a=0.131U_g^{0.532}U_l^{0.153}$
For three phase fluidized beds
$\varepsilon_g = \varepsilon_l=0.496U_g^{0.257}d_p^{-0.176}$
$\varepsilon_g=0.392U_g^{0.5010}U_g^{0.501} U_l^{-0.121}d_p^{0.862}$
$a=0.203U_g^{0.456}U_l^{0.323}d_p^{0.078}$
