Microfluidic investigation into mass transfer in compressible multi-phase systems composed of oil, water and carbon dioxide at elevated pressure

•Application of a high-pressure micro capillary system.•Investigation into an ethyl acetate in water emulsion in contact with supercritical CO2.•Simultaneous quantification of parallel mass transfer processes.•Non-invasive determination of mass transfer rates using shadowgraphy.

Mass transfer has been investigated quantitatively in the compressible ternary multi-phase system composed of the oil component ethyl acetate, water and carbon dioxide at the elevated pressure of 8.5 MPa and at temperatures of 298 K and 310.5 K. The multi-phase system has been generated inside a micro capillary. Each of the involved mass transfer paths could be quantified though taking place simultaneously between the three phases: oil, water and CO2. The quantification is based experimentally on the application of an optical long distance microscopy technique which provides information about the CO2 volume shrinkage and the refractive index of the oil phase. Both parameters allowed the solution of the mass transfer model which considers the mutual interaction of the involved transfer paths.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide