Abstract
Studies on the performance and power consumption characteristics of an Oscillating Baffle Contactor, operating with liquid-liquid systems, are reported. The mass transfer properties of the contactor were investigated with respect to variation of (i) baffle oscillation speed, (ii) amplitude of oscillation, (iii) liquid flowrates, (iv) physical properties of the solvent system, (v) baffle type, (vi) solute concentration, (vii) number of solutes being transferred, and (viii) their direction of transfer. A correlation for the overall mass transfer coefficient has been proposed. The axial mixing properties of the O. B. C. were investigated for single phase flow and a correlation for the axial mixing coefficient has also been proposed. A solution to the One-Dimensional Diffusion Equation has been found which, when used in conjunction with the mass transfer and axial mixing coefficient correlations can be used as a design equation in predicting NTU by way of computing the axial solute concentration profile for the contactor. The Sauter mean drop size has been found photographically for a wide range of operating conditions. Using this data and the data for the dispersed phase holdup, obtained by a mano-metric method, the interfacial area of the dispersion has been computed for the same operating conditions. The loading limit of the contactor has been found for a range of operating conditions and system properties. The power consumption characteristics of the O. B. C. have been investigated and correlations for the power, divided into three components, have been proposed. The components include Dry Power required to overcome friction, Bulk Power required to move the agitator in the bulk liquid, and the Useful Power which is consumed in actually creating the dispersion.