INFLUENCE OF INLET DISTRIBUTOR AND COLUMN DIAMETER ON HYDRODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS IN RDC LIQUID EXTRACTION COLUMN

Ayham M. Ismail Al-Rahawi, Salam Kadhim Al Dawery

Abstract: The factors affecting the hydrodynamic characteristics like hold-up and mean drop diameter were investigated using; four different distributors, two different columns size RDC extraction columns, testing three system, different solute concentration and wide range of operating conditions. Change in behavior of hold-up was observed in experimental data when the distributor holes diameter changed. Hold-up increases with decreasing dispersed phase holes inlet distributor. This behavior, however, can very well be explained by the small drop sizes generated in the lower part of the RDC. Runs have been conducted to determine the hold-up and mean drop diameter as function of the flow rate and rotation disc speed. Experiments were carried out in the presence and absence of mass transfer. The drop size was measured by analysis of images and hold-up by the shut-off method.

Keywords: RDC, Liquid Extraction, Holdup, Drop Size, Column Diameter, Distributor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0504068