Growing interest towards process intensification in chemical industries over the last decade promotes static mixers as an attractive contactor alternative to the bubble column and mechanically stirred vessels. In the present work, the dispersion provided by a helical static mixer in a vertical pipe at turbulent gas-liquid flow conditions was studied using ultrafast electron beam X-ray tomography. Dispersive mixing was quantified upstream and downstream of three, six and nine helical static mixer elements in terms of bubble size distribution and gas holdup. Bubble breakup within the mixer elements was visualized and quantified via bubble size distribution and interfacial area density. Moreover, the power dissipation per unit mass of liquid was calculated for different number of static mixer elements and slip. The results provide a new insight into the development of the gas phase distribution within helical static mixers and a sound basis for design improvement, optimization of flow conditions and CFD validation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.