Effective interfacial area in a packed column

The theory of absorption accompanied by pseudo nth order reaction was used to evaluate values of effective interfacial area, a, as a function of the liquid flow rate in a laboratory packed column. Oxygen was absorbed in aqueous solutions of cuprous chloride and sodium dithionite. Isobutylene was absorbed in an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid. There is a good agreement among the values of a obtained by using different systems. The value of a appears to be a unique function of the liquid flow rate in the range of liquid properties covered in the investigation.