Mass transfer efficiency of a tall and low plate free area liquid pulsed sieve-plate extraction column

Mass transfer performance is studied in a tall, thin, and low plate free area liquid pulsed sieve-plate extraction column. The 5.0 cm internal diameter column consists of eighty sieve plates with percent free area of only 13.5. The effects of pulsation intensity (product of amplitude and frequency) and dispersed phase velocity are studied on the extraction efficiency of the column for the acetic acid–kerosene–water system. A mass transfer correlation for the measurement of overall mass transfer coefficient is developed that best-fits the experimental data obtained in the present study. Mathematical analysis of the column is carried out that shows the insignificance of axial diffusivities in the column.