Dispersion and holdup in a three-phase fluidized-bed bioreactor

Axial dispersion and phase holdup measurements were made using electroconductivity in a fermenting fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBR) and in a model nonfermenting three-phase FBR. Multiple axial conductivity probes were used to nonintrusively monitor the bed conductivity. The gas phase holdup was estimated from a ratio of the average bed conductivity and bulk conductivity. The solid fraction in the three-phase FBR can be estimated from the two-phase liquid-solid FBR. The response to a salt pulse was used to estimate the liquid axial dispersion coefficient. Particle Peclet numbers on the order of 10^-2 were estimated as a function of flowrates and compared to literature correlations.