High-efficient CFD-based framework for the comprehensive hydrodynamic evaluation of pulsed extraction columns

•A high-efficient CFD-based framework was developed for extraction columns.•Comprehensive hydrodynamic evaluation was realized with high accuracy and low cost.•The computational cost was reduced by ~20 times for pulsed sieve-plate columns. In this study, a high-efficient CFD-based framework was developed for the comprehensive hydrodynamic evaluation of extraction columns. The core concepts of pseudo-3D and mean age theory were responsible for the optimal model geometry and steady transformation, respectively. The results indicate that the traditional 2D simplification is easy to cause the problems of geometrical deformation and turbulence distortion. By contrast, the pseudo-3D keeps all of the 3D hydrodynamic characteristics with smaller computational domain, so that it realizes the synergy of high accuracy and low cost. Meanwhile, the mean age theory transfers the unsteady species transport equation into a steady form so that it only takes tens of seconds for calculating the axial mixing. It was determined that the computational cost was reduced by ~20 times for the complete hydrodynamic estimation of a pulsed sieve-plate column. Hence, it is believed to be a high-efficient framework for the computer-aided process development of extractors.