LAB REPORT

HYDRODYNAMIC STUDY OF LIQUID-LIQUID EXTRACTION COLUMN

PMMT LAB

MUHAMMAD ABID SHAFIQUE ROLL # PE-09 2ND SEMSETER MSPE GROUP-1

ABSTRACT
The main objective of this experiment was to study the hydrodynamics of pulse plate liquid-liquid extraction problem. Liquid-liquid extraction column is widely used in industries where distillation is not applicable for the separation of mixture. It is also used in the enrichment process of uranium fuel, hence a main entity for the front end fuel cycle. The hydrodynamic study of the column will give us the insight about the liquid -liquid operation and will give us the chance to relate our theoretical knowledge with the practical one. A mixture of kerosene and water was used for performing the experiment, with water being the continuous phase and kerosene being dispersed. Flow rate of continuous phase was kept constant while that of the dispersed phase was increased from time tom time. The column was operated counter currently. Water is fed form the top while kerosene was fed from the bottom. The effect of increasing flow rate (dispersed phase) on the fractional holdup was determined by keeping the water flow rate as well as frequency and rate of pulsation were kept constant. The results showed an increasing trend of fractional holdup with the dispersed phase flow rate.

INTRODUCTION
Extraction is a process whereby a mixture of several substances in the liquid phase is at least partially separated by addition of a liquid solvent in which the original substances have different solubilities. The liquid extraction can be carried out stage-wise or by differential methods. The choice between two methods depends upon ease of extraction and extent of extraction. The differential contactors for extraction involve continuous changes in compositions of phases. The sieve plate column, a type of differential contactor equipment, consists of mult-iorifice plates with or without downcomers. The plates eliminate back mixing of the continuous phase completely. Both heavy or light liquid can be dispersed phase, which travels upward or downward depending upon the density of the phase dispersed. It coalesces and settles until sufficient hydraulic head is built up to force the liquid through perforations and to disperse it again through continuous phase. It is normal practice to select the phase which preferentially wets the internals of the column as continuous phase. This allows the dispersed phase to exist as discrete droplets within the column. The extraction efficiency can be considerably increased by application of an oscillating pulse to the liquids in a sieve plate column. The improvement in efficiency is due to increase in both turbulence and interfacial area caused by the breakup of the dispersed phase. The pulsed sieve-plate extractor has been found to have high throughput, high separation efficiency and insensitivity towards contamination of the interface, has led to its wide applicability, particularly in the extraction of radioactive materials.

OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS

Dispersed Phase: kerosene Continuous Phase: water Stroke length of continuous phase pump = 10 mm Frequency of pulsation = 10 units on scale Stroke length of Pulse Unit = 10 mm Table 1. Observations for the Experiment.
Stroke Length of Dispersed Phase Pump Height of Heavy Phase HH Total Height HT Height of 2Phase Mixture H2P Height of Light Phase HL

Obs. No.

1 2 3

mm 6 8 10

Inch 96 96.5 97

cm 243.84 245.11 246.38

Inch 110 110 110

cm 279.4 279.4 279.4

Inch 97 97 97

cm 246.38 246.38 246.38

cm 33.02 33.02 33.02

CALCULATIONS:
Using specifications of the equipment, Flow range of metering pumps = up to 44 l/hr Stroke length limit of the pumps = 0-20 mm Hence, Flow rate of the continuous phase = 22 l/hr Density of light phase (kerosene) = L = 810 kg/m3 Density of heavy phase (water) = H = 1000 kg/m3 The relationship used for holdup calculations is:

. HH =

. HL +

H2P + (1- ) .

. H2P

Where, = Volume fraction of the dispersed phase in continuous phase. Using the above equation, is calculated for each flow rate of dispersed phase as follows:

Table 2. Effect of Flow rate of Dispersed Phase on Holdup at Continuous Phase Flow Rate of 22 l/hr:
Observation No. Stroke Length of Dispersed Phase Pump
6 8 10

Flow rate of Dispersed Phase (l/hr)

13.2 17.6 22.0

Holdup

1 2 3

0..3743 0.4015 0.4286

GRAPHS

Graph between Fl w rate of Di persed Phase and Vol Phase in the Continuous Phase.

e Fraction of Dispersed

DISCUSSION
The following results were observed during the experiment. Holdup of dispersed phase increases almost linearly with increase in flow rate of the dispersed medium as shown in the figure. This is due to the fact that as the dispersed phase flow rate is increased, the droplet size of the dispersed phase reduces and fractional holdup increases in the two-phase region. It was also noted that by increasing the flow rate of the water, the interface region tries to shift upward hence reducing the fractional holdup and vice versa. However, there is an optimum limit for the flow rate. If the flow rate of dispersed phase is increased above the corresponding flooding point, the fractional holdup will increase no further because the droplets of dispersed phase will interact so strongly that they will start coalescing into larger bubbles. These coalesce bubbles have larger void fraction hence they tend to decrease the fractional holdup. The steady state condition cant be achieved if the pulsator is turned off.

REFERENCES
1. Treybal R.E. 1980. Mass Transfer Operations, 3rd Edn. McGraw-Hill, New York. 2. Laddha, G. S. & Degaleesan, T. E. 1976. Transport Phenomena in Liquid Extraction. Tata
McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.

3. Perry, R.H., Green, D.W. & Maloney, J. O. (Eds). 1997. Perrys Chemical Engineers
Handbook, 7th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York. .