Simulation of air lift packed column

In this work we have developed steady state mode for simulating an airlift packed column used for heat and mass transfer. These equations are based on energy and momentum balances. For a given air mass flow rate and a submersion ratio, the model allows to determine water mass flow rate and void fraction along the column. The conducted simulations allowed evaluating pumps efficiency along with gas flow rate and void fraction effect on pumping performances. The obtained results demonstrate that simulations based on the adopted model could be an interesting tool air-lift pumps sizing and optimization.