Liquid‐liquid heterogeneous mixing efficiency in a rotating packed bed reactor

Abstract

AbstractMixing of two immiscible liquids consists of two sections that are liquid‐liquid dispersion and mass transfer intraphase or interphase. It plays a crucial role in the liquid‐liquid heterogeneous reactions. Here, the liquid‐liquid heterogeneous mixing efficiency in RPB reactor is experimentally assessed by a consecutive‐competitive chemical probe system. The diameters of dispersed phase droplets in RPB were measured and a correlation to predict the mean diameters were obtained. Based on the dispersed phase size and mass transfer characteristic, a model for predicting the segregation index of liquid‐liquid heterogeneous mixing in RPB was established with a deviation <20%. Based on this model, the characteristic time of liquid‐liquid heterogeneous mixing in RPB is determined to be in the range of 0.01–1 s. RPB exhibits a great process intensification potential for heterogeneous mixing process.