Patent ID: 8308143

Claim:
A method for adding a gas to a liquid in a reactor comprising the steps of stirring the liquid in the reactor and injecting the gas into the liquid to form a gas-liquid dispersion, the steps being performed by a gas-liquid dispersion device comprising: a) a drive device positioned above the reactor, provided with a vertical output shaft fitted at its lower end with at least one axial flow rotor immersed in the liquid; b) an injection device configured to perform the injecting step such that the gas is introduced above the axial flow rotor; c) a deflector placed above the axial flow rotor preventing the gas-liquid dispersion from rising; and d) a deflector placed below the axial flow rotor and configured to convert the axial flow of the said rotor into a radial flow, the method further comprising the step of positioning the gas-liquid dispersion device three meters or less above a floor of the reactor wherein the reactor comprises an abrasion sensitive floor that would erode if the abrasion sensitive floor were subjected to an axial flow of the gas-liquid dispersion from the axial flow rotor.