AbstractCharacteristics of a reciprocating screen‐plate bubble column were experimentally determined with dilute alcohol solutions. Results show that the addition of ethanol up to the concentration of 0.8 wt% produces very large gas holdups and overall mass transfer coefficients, in comparison with conventional bubble columns. The plate agitation was shown to cause increases not only in the interfacial area “a” but also in the individual mass transfer coefficientkLwhen the speed of reciprocation was