Gas holdup and the ratio of the turbulent regime mechanical power consumed in aerated compared to that in nonaerated aqueous phases were measured in two laboratory sized tanks. Standard six‐blade turbine (D/T = 1/3), six‐blade paddle (D/T = 1/3), and four‐blade paddle (D/T = 2/3) impellers were used over a wide range of impeller rotational speed and gas sparging rate. For all systems, the power ratio results were found to fit a semitheoretical correlation (derived from dimensional analysis) involving the impeller Weber number, the aeration number, and the ratio of dispersion and liquid densities. Empirical correlations for gas holdup in water, aqueous solutions of nonelectrolytes, and an aqueous electrolyte solution are given. The overall results lead to the conclusion that power ratio and gas holdup correlations are highly specific to a particular impeller type and are also dependent on the tank size and the liquid phase physicochemical properties.

SummaryThe effect of dispersed n-dodecane or n-hexadecane on the air-to-aqueous phase overall volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient in a simulated (cell-free) stirred-tank fermentor is described. The oil volume fraction ranged from zero to 0.10; the ionic strength of the aqueous phases was varied from 0 to 0.45. The air-to-aqueous phase coefficients in both oil-free (KLa) and oil-bearing (KLa*) systems were evaluated from unsteady-state experiments using a membrane-covered probe to follow the aqueous phase dissolved oxygen tension.For all systems studied, KLa*/KLa was found to be independent of P / V and U S for all practical purposes. However, for a particular aqueous phrme and a t a given P / V and U S , the ratio KLa*/KLa generally differed from unity. Depending on the combination of hydrocarbon type and volume fraction and the aqueous-phase ionic strength employed, the dispersed hydrocarbon may, in some cases, reduce the rate of oxygen transfer and in others enhance it relative to that of the corresponding oil-free gas-liquid dispersion. Enhancement of the air-to-aqueous transfer rate by such negative spreading coefficient hydrocarbons has not been reported previously.

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Selection of a suitable general circulation model (GCM) ensemble is crucial for effective water resource management and reliable climate studies in developing countries with constraint in human and computational resources. A careful selection of a GCM subset by excluding those with limited similarity to the observed climate from the existing pool of GCMs developed by different modeling centers at various resolutions can ease the task and minimize uncertainties. In this study, a feature selection method known as symmetrical uncertainty (SU) was employed to assess the performance of 26 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) GCM outputs under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5. The selection was made according to their capability to simulate observed daily precipitation (prcp), maximum and minimum temperature (Tmax and Tmin) over the historical period 1980-2005 in the Niger Delta region, which is highly vulnerable to extreme climate events. The ensemble of the four top-ranked GCMs, namely ACCESS1.3, MIROC-ESM, MIROC-ESM-CHM, and NorESM1-M, were selected for the spatio-temporal projection of prcp, Tmax, and Tmin over the study area. Results from the chosen ensemble predicted an increase in the mean annual prcp between the range of 0.26% to 3.57% under RCP4.5, and 0.7% to 4.94% under RCP 8.5 by the end of the century when compared to the base period. The study also revealed an increase in Tmax in the range of 0 to 0.4 • C under RCP4.5 and 1.25-1.79 • C under RCP8.5 during the periods 2070-2099. Tmin also revealed a significant increase of 0 to 0.52 • C under RCP4.5 and between 1.38-2.02 • C under RCP8.5, which shows that extreme events might threaten the Niger Delta due to climate change. Water resource managers in the region can use these findings for effective water resource planning, management, and adaptation measures.