Wake phenomena in a liquid‐liquid fluidized bed

Abstract

AbstractMeasurements of the size and rate of shedding of wakes of drops, average drop holdup and velocity of the continuous phase as functions of drop size for kerosene, hexane, and benzene dispersed in water in a liquid‐liquid fluidized bed are reported. The average drop size ranged between 3.3 and 4.8 mm. The water velocity was 5.0 to 12.05 cm/s. The average drop hold up was 0.065 to 0.560.The ratio of wake to drop volume was 0.2 to 2.4, and the rate of wake shedding, reported as time of wake transfer units, was 0.7 to 2.4. At low drop holdups, the effect of single drops and groups of drops is dominant. At high drop holdups, the effect of neighboring drops and wakes is dominant. The wake size is correlated with slip velocity and can be calculated from empirical holdup measurements.