Study of liquid-liquid extraction and mass transfer process with solid particles in the inline teethed high shear mixer

Abstract

The liquid–liquid extraction process with solid particles is of practical importance in the chemical industry. Consequently, the inline high shear mixer (HSM) was employed for the process intensification, and the effects of particle size and concentration, rotor revolution speeds, and rotor structural parameters were revealed in this work. Results indicate that increasing the rotor revolution speed remarkably promotes mass transfer performance. The extraction efficiency (E) and mass transfer coefficient (KLa) increase at low revolution speeds, yet mainly decrease with the elevated particle concentration. The larger particle size is more unfavorable to mass transfer. E and KLa first decline and then increase with the raised rotor outer diameter, and more rotor teeth correspond to higher E and KLa. Increasing the forward teeth angle promotes liquid–liquid extraction. The relationship between KLa and key parameters is established via machine learning algorithms with high accuracy for HSM design and optimization.