Impact of feeding conditions on continuous liquid-liquid gravity separation, part II: Inlet/outlet drop size distribution and fractional separation efficiency

Abstract

The effect of the feeding conditions and operating temperatures on the separation process was investigated in a continuous gravity-driven separator, following the analysis of the outlet drop size, and formation/shape of dense-packed zone. The inlet and outlet drop size distributions (DSDs) were considered in combination with the separation efficiency. The inlet and outlet DSDs were found to be self-similar across varied feeding conditions and operating temperatures. An increase of operating temperatures from 20 to 40∘C had a tiny impact on the inlet DSDs and resulted in an 1% - 3% increase in separation efficiency but an 8% - 13% reduction in outlet drop size. A novel concept of integrating separation efficiency and DSDs was introduced, allowing for a more comprehensive assessment of the separation process. The fractional separation efficiency was introduced, and it was evaluated based on the self-similarity of inlet and outlet DSDs.