The local hydrodynamic behaviours in an external loop airlift slurry reactor, including the gas holdup, bubble rise velocity, bubble size, were measured with a fibre optic probe. The liquid circulation velocity was measured with an ultrasound Doppler velocimetry. Two-dimensional simulations were carried out in the framework of Two-Fluid formulation coupled with a k-epsilon turbulence model. The lateral forces and interphase turbulence were taken into account and good agreement between the experimental and simulation results was obtained. The simulations show that the lateral forces and interphase turbulence have noticeable influence and should be included in the CFD model.