A three-phase fluidized bed reactor (TFBR) was developed in this study with the objective to achieve high rates of oxygen transfer from the gas to the liquid phase in the presence of fluidized solid particles. With 2.9 m height, 0.605 m diameter, and a short residence time of 8 h, the TFBR is particularly suitable for industrial applications such as aerobic biodegradation of high-strength wastewaters including refractory compounds. Experiments with tap water and air show that the TFBR enables complete fluidization. With the water and air superficial velocities in the respective ranges of 0.005-0.203 and 0.8-2.0 cm/s, the volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient is 2.3 x 10(-2) s(-1), which is higher than that obtained in similar experimental studies on oxygen transfer carried out in the past. These results suggest that the developed TFBR could be very effective in industrial applications where short hydraulic time and high gas-to-liquid mass transfer rates are desirable. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.