The local properties of the dispersed gas phase (gasholdup, bubble diamater, and bubble velocity) were measured and evaluated at different positions in the riser and downcomer of a pilot plant reactor and, for comparison, in a laboratory reactor. These were described in Parts I and II of this series of articles during yeast cultivation and with model media. In the riser of the pilot plant reactor, the local gas holdup and bubble velocities varied only slightly in axial direction. The gas holdup increased considerably, while the bubble velocity increased only slightly with aeration rate. The bubble size diminished with increasing distance from the aerator in the riser, since the primary bubble size was larger than the equilibrium bubble size. In the downcomer, the mean bubble size was smaller than in the riser. The mean bubble size varied only slightly, the bubble velocity was accelerated, and the gas holdup decreased from top to bottom in the downcomer. In pilot plant at constant aeration rate, the properties of the dispersed phase were nearly constant during the batch cultivation, i.e., they depended only slightly on the cell concentration. In the laboratory reactor, the mean bubble sizes were much larger than in the pilot plant reactor. In the laboratory reactor, the bubble velocities in the riser and downcomer increased, and the mean gas holdup and bubble diameter in the downcomer remained constant as the aeration rate was increased.
A new measurement method for determining the local liquid-phase velocities in multiphase flows is presented. It is based on a tracer technique, using heat introduced into the flow, seemingly at random, instead of a material tracer. The input of heat pulses and measurement of temperature at an adjacent point is performed by small probes. As an intermediate result, the flow time distribution of the heat-labelled fluid elements is calculated on-line as a cross-correlation function between the pseudo-random input and the measured output signals. This calculation and the miomatic control of measurements is carried out by a simple microprocessor unit. The device produced excellent results in gas-liquid flows at high gas throughputs and high liquid-phase velocities.
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