Liquid-liquid dispersion in co-current disc and doughnut pulsed column : effect of the operating conditions, physical properties and materials parameters

Abstract

Pulsed columns are traditionally used to perform liquid liquid extractions at counter-current. They are currently seen as a potential tubular reactor to perform co-current continuous processes. In this paper the case of liquid liquid dispersion is considered. Various parameters are investigated such as the dispersed phase holdup, the flowrate and pulsation conditions but also some process parameters such as the packing material or the physical properties such as the type of surfactant. The energy dissipation rate is estimated according to correlations found in literature. Breakage and coalescence rate models are applied in order to understand the various observed phenomena. Finally, a correlation to predict the mean droplet size is proposed depending on various dimensionless numbers characterizing the flow, the internal and the physico-chemistry of the phase systems.