Mass transfer characteristics in a gas-liquid reciprocating plate column. I. Liquid phase volumetric mass transfer coefficient

In a series of two papers the results of investigating the mass transfer characteristics of two gas-liquid reciprocating plate columns of the Karr type by different methods are presented. The subject of the first part is a study of the liquid phase volumetric mass transfer coefficient, k_La, while the second part deals with the interfacial area. The volumetric coefficient k_La was investigated using the sulphite method, the pure physical absorption of oxygen, and a dynamic method under culture conditions, the second of these three methods being the most favorable. Very good agreement among these methods was found. Generally, k_La increased with increasing vibration intensity, superficial gas velocity, and the number of perforated plates. Liquid-phase properties appeared to affect k_La only slightly. The coefficient k_La was correlated in terms of the maximum power consumption and the superficial gas velocity: