Application of electrical resistance tomography in evaluating the influence of nozzle design on the gas hold-up in boiling bubble column reactors

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Bubble column reactors are extensively used in the petro-chemicals industry due to the combined advantages of high rates of heat and mass transfer coupled with low operating and maintenance costs. The complex hydrodynamics brought about by the multiphase nature of such systems offer significant challenges in modelling, analysis and operation, thus making experimental measurement of system response of special importance. One such measurement technique is Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT). In this study, the development of an experimental bubble column reactor fitted with 8 rings of 16 electrodes for ERT measurements using an instrument developed at the University of Cape Town (UCT) is described