The three-phase catalytic oxidation of glucose into gluconic acid is studied in a new type of reactor: a stirred internal-loop airlift reactor. The in¯uence of oxygen¯ow rate and of agitation on reaction rate are experimentally checked. By means of a model, a better knowledge of the reaction kinetic order for oxygen is reached.

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:The gasÈliquid mass transfer performances of a novel three-phase reactor involving both airlift and mechanical stirring have been tested using aqueous solutions of glucose. Stirring in addition to classical airlift leads to an importance increase ofThe absolute increase depends mainly on the stirrer k L a. speed are not on the gas velocity. A slight e †ect of the solid loading with a maximum at about 2% (w/v) was observed. Two correlations that show the inÑu-ence of physical parameters are proposed for both water and glucose solutions.1998 SCI ( J. Chem. T echnol. Biotechnol. 72, 137È142 (1998) Key words : airlift reactor ; stirring ; mass transfer ; gas retention ; solid hold-up ; rotation speed ; liquid viscosity

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