A mathematical model for predicting the liquid circulation velocity in an airlift reactor was developed based on the mechanical energy balance of the fluid circulation loop. The model considered the energy loss due to a 90° turn, the energy loss due to friction, and the energy loss due to the change in cross-sectional area at each part of the reactor. The model that separately considered the loss coefficients related to friction, direction change, and cross-sectional area change was able to predict the liquid circulation velocity better than the previous model using lumped parameters. The liquid circulation velocity was measured by the tracer pulse method. Most of our experimental results obtained in external-loop airlift reactors, which had the top and bottom connecting pipes, as well as other investigators' results obtained in various types of airlift reactors, were well predicted by the developed model with an error within 20%. Useful empirical equations for the loss coefficient related to the 90° turn of the circulating fluid were obtained in external and internal-loop airlift reactors and used to predict the liquid circulation velocity.