The formation of defluidized zones was studied in a laboratory slurry bubble column equipped with heat transfer probes. The probes were small thermistors 2.4 mm in diameter. Dionized water and air were used as a liquid and gas phase, respectively. Solids were fine ceramic particles with mean size of 19.2 mum and density of 2244 kg/m(3). The effects of solids holdup (up to 30 wt% on gas free basis), gas superficial velocity (0.01-0.09 m/s), sparger height (0.01-0.09 m) on defluidized zones formation was studied. Cycle analysis of the local heat transfer fluctuations reliably detected the local formation of defluidized zones for each condition.