Abstract: Bubble columns (BCs) are widely used in the chemical industry. Their operation with an air-water system at ambient conditions is very well investigated. However, when different alcohols are mixed with water, the BC hydrodynamics becomes much more complicated and the gas holdups cannot be predicted by means of the existing empirical correlations. In this work the effect of the number of carbon atoms in an alcohol on the gas holdup profiles in a BC (0.1 m in ID) equipped with a perforated plate gas sparger (96 orifices with 1 mm ID) was studied. Aqueous solutions of three alcohols (1-butanol, 2-pentanol and 3-hexanol) were investigated. The results in this article show that the number of carbon atoms in an alcohol is an important factor and it should be included in any reliable empirical correlation for gas holdup prediction. This is the main objective of the current research.
