Research institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) Journal of Petroleum Research 2345-2900 22 71 2013 06 01 Investigating the Effect of Pressure on Gas Holdup of Bubble and Slurry Bubble Columns Investigating the Effect of Pressure on Gas Holdup of Bubble and Slurry Bubble Columns 43 56 139 10.22078/pr.2013.139 FA Mohammadreza Alaei Gas Research Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industries Mohammad Irani Gas Research Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industries Ali Nakhaeipour Gas Research Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industries Journal Article 2013 06 01 Bubble and slurry bubble column reactors usually work under pressures beyond the atmosphere in the industries. Although many studies have been done about bubble and slurry bubble column reactors, experimental studies under elevated pressure are very limited. In this study, the effects of pressure and slurry concentration on the gas holdup have been investigated by using pressure difference tests. The experiments of this study are made under pressures up to 18 bar and paraffin and silica are used as the liquid and solid contents. Increasing the operation pressure leads to an increase in gas holdup. It is also found out that the effect of pressure is vanished by increasing the slurry concentration. The experiments are performed in a column with a diameter of 16 cm and a height of 2.8 m. The gases used are nitrogen and air. Finally, a new experimental correlation is developed as a function of gas density (ρg), superficial velocity of gas (Ug), slurry density (ρSL), slurry viscosity (μSL), and liquid surface tension (σL); the correlation is obtained by using the data extracted from this investigation and is in good agreement with the experimental data. Bubble and slurry bubble column reactors usually work under pressures beyond the atmosphere in the industries. Although many studies have been done about bubble and slurry bubble column reactors, experimental studies under elevated pressure are very limited. In this study, the effects of pressure and slurry concentration on the gas holdup have been investigated by using pressure difference tests. The experiments of this study are made under pressures up to 18 bar and paraffin and silica are used as the liquid and solid contents. Increasing the operation pressure leads to an increase in gas holdup. It is also found out that the effect of pressure is vanished by increasing the slurry concentration. The experiments are performed in a column with a diameter of 16 cm and a height of 2.8 m. The gases used are nitrogen and air. Finally, a new experimental correlation is developed as a function of gas density (ρg), superficial velocity of gas (Ug), slurry density (ρSL), slurry viscosity (μSL), and liquid surface tension (σL); the correlation is obtained by using the data extracted from this investigation and is in good agreement with the experimental data. https://pr.ripi.ir/article_139_e00da03b685a0dd18fb6a08af0923de0.pdf