Chemical Engineering Research & Design, Vol.72, No.4, 493-502, 1994
Drop-Size Distribution and Average Drop Size in a Wirz Extraction Column
Drop-size distributions and voliume-surface average diameters have been measured in a Wirz-II agitated extraction column for six different liquid-liquid systems as a function of phase flow rates and intensity of agitation at three positions along the column axis. Experimental drop-size distributions were compared with three two-parameter theoretical distribution functions, namely, the log-normal, Gamma, and Weibull. The Gamma function was found to be the most suitable. An empirical correlation for a dimensionless width of the drop-size distribution is presented in terms of the rate of agitation and interfacial tension. The Sauter mean diameter was found to depend on the speed of agitation, physical properties of liquid systems, and phase flow rates. It could be correlated using an additive model involving the ratio of buoyancy to interfacial forces at low agitation, and a turbulent breakup mechanism at high agitation, the effect of flow rates being expressed in terms of the dispersed-phase holdup.