Investigation of hydrodynamic performance in a staggered multistage internal airlift loop reactor

The multistage internal airlift loop reactor (MIALR) has shown promising application prospects in gas–liquid–solid reaction systems. However, traditional MIALRs have a global circulation with strong interstage liquid-phase exchange. This paper proposes a staggered multistage internal airlift loop reactor (SMIALR) that incorporates special guide elements to create a staggered flow. Both experiments and computational fluid dynamics-population balance model simulations were conducted to investigate the hydrodynamic performances of MIALR and SMIALR. The results demonstrate that SMIALR exhibits a local circulation at each stage. Bubbles have a longer residence time in SMIALR, resulting in a 28.35%–55.54% increase in gas holdup and a 7.27%–13.69% increase in volumetric mass transfer coefficient. The gas–liquid mass transfer coefficient of SMIALR was improved by increasing the gas–liquid interfacial area. Additionally, the radial distribution of solids was found to be more uniform. This study offers insights for optimizing MIALR and provides a theoretical foundation for the design and scale-up of SMIALR.