Mass transfer in multiphase systems is one of the most studied topics in chemical engineering. However, in three-phase systems containing small particles, the mechanisms playing a role in the increased rate of mass transfer compared to two-phase systems without particles, are still not clear. Therefore, mass transfer measurements were carried out in a 2D slurry bubble column reactor (0.015 x 0.30 x 2.00 m(3)), a stirred tank reactor with a flat gas-liquid interface, and in a stirred tank reactor with a gas inducing impeller. The rate of mass transfer in these reactors was investigated with various concentrations of active carbon particles (average particle size of 30 mum), with electrolyte (sodium gluconate), and with combinations of these. In the bubble column, high-speed video recordings were captured from which the bubble size distribution and the specific bubble area were determined. In this way, the specific mass transfer area a,, was determined separately from the mass transfer coefficient k(l). Mechanisms proposed in literature to describe mass transfer and mass transfer enhancement in stirred tank reactors and bubble columns are compared. It is shown that the increased rates of mass transfer in the 2D bubble column and in the stirred tank reactor with the gas inducing impeller are completely caused by an increased gas-liquid interfacial area upon addition of carbon particles and electrolyte. It is suggested that an increased level of turbulence at the gas-liquid interface caused by carbon particles accounts for a smaller effective boundary layer thickness and an enhancement of mass transfer in the flat gas-liquid surface stirred tank reactor. However, for the carbon particles used in this study, it is rather unlikely that mass transfer enhancement takes place due to the well-known shuttle or grazing effect. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.