Abstract
Processes with supercritical fluids are known for both solid and liquid materials. Liquids are typically brought into contact with the supercritical fluid in countercurrent columns. In recent years, high-pressure spraying processes such as the spray extraction of viscous media have been investigated. The central idea is to improve mass transfer by dispersing the liquid phase in the supercritical phase. A mixer–settler system is investigated for the regeneration of caffeine-loaded CO 2 at various conditions. Water is sprayed into the CO 2 flow and the resulting two-phase flow passes through a static mixer to intensify phase contact and prevent coalescence of the water phase. The system shows an efficiency of 80–90% in comparison with the theoretical maximum based on ternary equilibrium data from the literature. The pressure loss of the static mixer (Kenics) is determined experimentally for various conditions. The pressure drop of the two-phase flow depends on CO 2 velocity and is significantly determined by the mass ratio. It does not exceed 2500 Pa in the present investigations, and can be neglected in supercritical fluid plant design.
Published Version
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