Liquid phase residence time distribution (RTD) studies have been performed in conventional solid-liquid fluidized bed (SLFB) and solid-liquid circulating multistage fluidized bed (SLCMFB). The riser column was made up of 50 mm id. and 2 111 long glass pipe while the multistage down corner column (glass) consisted of seven stages of 100 mm i.d. and 100 mm long sections each having perforated plate as a distributor (having 480 holes of 2 mm diameter). RTD experiments for SLFB were carried out ill the column having the same diameter as the downcomer of SLCMFB. RTD has been estimated for both the riser column and the multistage column of SLCMFB. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations of SLFB and riser section of SLCMFB have been performed to predict the RTD. In all the above cases good agreement was found between the CFD predictions and the experimental measurements. Ion exchange resins and glass beads were used as a solid phase and water as a fluidizing medium. The dispersion characteristics of SLFB and SLCMFB have been investigated for resin particles with size range of 0.36-0.72 mm and glass beads with size range of 0.1-0.7 mm. It was observed that the liquid phase axial dispersion coefficient depends strongly on superficial liquid velocity, particle size and particle density. Based on the experimental data, empirical correlations have been proposed for liquid phase axial dispersion coefficient and have been found to be applicable to all the available data in the published literature. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.