Patent ID: 8685334

Claim:
A bubble column reactor for reacting a predominately liquid-phase stream and a predominately gas-phase stream, said reactor comprising: a vessel shell defining an elongated reaction zone extending along a normally-upright central shell axis, wherein said reaction zone has a normally-lower end and a normally-upper end spaced from one another by a maximum distance (L), wherein said reaction zone has a maximum diameter (D), wherein said reaction zone has an L:D ratio of at least about 3:1; one or more gas openings for discharging said gas-phase stream into said reaction zone, wherein at least one of said gas openings is located within about 0.25D of said normally-lower end; and one or more liquid openings for introducing said liquid-phase stream into said reaction zone, wherein at least about 30 percent of the cumulative open area defined by all of said liquid openings is attributable to liquid openings spaced from the gas opening located closest to said normally-lower end by an axial distance less than about 1.5D.