Correction of the Penetration Theory applied to the Prediction of kLa in a Bubble Column with Organic Liquids

When Higbie's penetration theory is applied to calculate kL‐values for ellipsoidal rather than spherical bubbles, some correction factor needs to be introduced. In a recent paper, such a correction factor (less than unity) was derived for the homogeneous flow regime, based on kLa‐data measured in 1‐butanol, toluene, ethanol, and tap water: fc = 0.211 Eo0.63. In the present work, the validity of this approach is further tested on kLa‐data published for ethylbenzene, xylene, tetralin, anilin, nitrobenzene, 1,2‐dichloroethane, 1,4‐dioxane, 2‐propanol, benzene, ligroin, and ethyl acetate. The full data set involving 79 experimental kLa‐values at homogeneous flow in 14 organic liquids and tap water, is correlated with a 8.7 % mean error in the following modified form: fc = 0.185 Eo0.737. When Higbie's penetration theory is applied to calculate kL‐values for ellipsoidal rather than spherical bubbles, some correction factor needs to be introduced. In a recent paper, such a correction factor (less than unity) was derived for the homogeneous flow regime. In the present work, the validity of this approach is further tested.