Effects of nanoparticles on the drop behavior in the Oldshue-Rushton extraction column by using central composite design method

Abstract

Abstract The experimental conditions for the determination of drop size and size distribution in the presence of silica nanoparticles (0.025 and 0.05 wt%) were studied by using the pilot plant Oldshue-Rushton extraction column. The effects of the three parameters such as rotor speed, dispersed phase flow rate as well as continuous phase flow rate were investigated by means of the central composite design (CCD), which is a subcategory of response surface methodology (RSM). The experiment was carried out by using toluene-water system and the results indicated that the nanoparticles reduce the Sauter mean drop size in the extraction column, albeit with a slight variation in the drop size distribution observed in the column. The operating parameters and the drop size is correlated by using central composite design and then tested on the basis of the goodness-of-fit statistics by the analysis of the variance. A new family of the probability distribution function based on the principle of the pre-exponential term to the maximum entropy method was studied for the prediction of drop size distribution. As a result, we found that MEP and pre-exponential term of MEP can provide a better alternative for the prediction of drop size distribution.