Prediction of drop size distribution in a horizontal pulsed plate extraction column

• The drop size decreased more rapidly with the increase of pulse intensity.
• Increasing the flow rate of dispersed phase the drop size will increase.
• The AARE of the correlation obtained for the estimation of mean drops size is 15.6%.
• The AARE of the normal probability density function is up to 13.7%.

Mean drop size and drop size distribution in a horizontal pulsed plate extraction column were investigated using different four binary systems. The effects of pulse intensity (af) and flow rates of both liquid phases have been investigated. The drop size decreased more rapidly with the increase of pulse intensities. It was observed that an increase in intensity of the pulses will lead to narrower ranges of distribution for the drop size. Increasing the flow rate of dispersed phase tends to increase the drop size. The effect of continuous phase flow rate is weaker than the effect of the dispersed phase flow rate. By using results, a semi empirical correlation obtained for the estimation of mean drop size which proves to be in good agreement to the experimental data. The average absolute relative error (AARE) of this correlation is about 15.6%. In order to find a predictive correlation for drop size distribution, four models of distribution functions are tested. The normal probability density function is the only suitable way for representing the experimental drop size distributions with an AARE of 13.7%.

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