Sauter mean diameter and drop size distribution behavior in a horizontal vertical pulsed sieve plate column

The L-shaped pulsed sieve-plate column (LPSPC) was introduced by Akhgar et al. to improve the efficiency of horizontal columns. It combined vertical and horizontal columns to enhancing efficiency, reducing height and increasing capacity through suction forces at the connection point. Droplet size is crucial for hydrodynamics and mass transfer in extraction columns, affecting interfacial area and overall performance. The Sauter mean diameter (SMD) and drop size distribution (DSD) are key design parameters in LPSPCs. The behavior of SMD and DSD was investigated in an LPSPC for four chemical systems, including water-kerosene, 17% nitric acid-5% TBP/kerosene (v/v), 17% nitric acid-15% TBP/kerosene (v/v) and 17% nitric acid-30% TBP/kerosene (v/v). The influence of the operating parameters such as pulsation intensity and flow rate of dispersed and continuous phases on SMD and DSD were evaluated. Additionally, the effect of interfacial tension and the percentage of TBP in the dispersed phase on SMD were investigated. Using the experimental results, semi-empirical correlations were obtained for prediction of SMD, which proved to be in great agreement with the experimental data. The average absolute relative error (AARE) of these correlations was 6.95% and 8.29% for the horizontal and vertical sections, respectively. Furthermore, new correlations were presented for prediction of DSD based on the four models of distribution functions. The AARE values of α and β parameters for each of the normal, log-normal, Weibull, and gamma functions were about 3.40-9.60, 11.52-17.65, 2.62-16.00, and 29.09-38.93%, respectively. According to the results, normal, Weibull and log-normal models were acceptable, in order.