Investigation of Velocity Field Inside a Single-Phase Pulsed Sieve Plate Column Using Radioactive Particle Tracking

Abstract

Pulsed sieved plate columns (PSPCs) are used for liquid-liquid extraction processes in several industries such as mineral processing, pharmaceuticals, and nuclear fuel cycle. Despite their widespread use in the industry, there is a dearth of experimental insights into the local hydrodynamics in PSPC. This work for the first time reports the local hydrodynamics inside a PSPC using the radioactive particle tracking technique. Local instantaneous velocity, mean velocity, turbulent quantities such as root-mean square (rms) velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and turbulent intensity are measured through the radioactive particle tracking technique. The effects of pulsing velocity and liquid flow rate on local hydrodynamics and turbulence parameters are studied for no net flow and single-phase flow conditions. Results indicate that the mean flow velocity is low; however, significant fluctuating velocity components are generated due to the pulsing action. Though the fluctuations in the axial direction dominate, significant radial velocity is observed in all of the cases. Further, results show that the fluctuations in the axial direction attenuate in the case of single-phase flow when compared with the no flow condition. This leads to lower axial rms velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and turbulent intensity in the case of single-phase flow as compared with the no flow condition. In all of the cases, significant fluctuations are observed, which signify a higher degree of mixing and hence enhanced mass transfer in PSPCs. © 2022 American Chemical Society.