Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.25, No.3, 288-293, 2017
Prediction of mass transfer coefficients in an asymmetric rotating disk contactor using effective diffusivity
Mass transfer characteristics have been investigated in a 113 mm diameter asymmetric rotating disk contactor of the pilot plant scale for two different liquid-liquid systems. The effects of operating parameters including rotor speed and continuous and dispersed phase velocities on the volumetric overall mass transfer coefficients are investigated. The results show that the mass transfer performance is strongly dependent on agitation rate and interfacial tension, but only slightly dependent on phase flow rates. In this study, effective diffusivity is used instead of molecular diffusivity in the Grober equation for estimation of dispersed phase overall mass transfer coefficient. The enhancement factor is determined experimentally and there from an empirical expression is derived for prediction of the enhancement factor as a function of Reynolds number. The predicted results compared to the experimental data show that the proposed correlation can efficiently predict the overall mass transfer coefficients in asymmetric rotating disk contactors. (C) 2016 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Asymmetric rotating disk contactor;Mass transfer coefficient;Enhancement factor;Interfacial area;Dispersed phase holdup