(98ac) Biphasic Liquid Flows and Mass Transfer Characterization in Y Junction Microstructured Contactors

Microstructured contactor forms an important tool for process intensification in multiphase systems.
Liquid-Liquid extraction is a key mass transfer operation in the chemical, food process and
pharmaceutical industries. High mass transfer rates compared to conventional equipment and ease of
handling of two-phase flows make microstructured contactors an ideal choice for extraction studies. Our
work focuses on quantifying this improvement in mass transfer by carrying out extraction experiments
in Y-Junction glass micro structured contactor with square cross-section of 150 x 150 μm. A
mathematical treatment of these physical phenomena is done from basic flow equations and a model is
developed for the same. Cyclohexane (organic) and water (aqueous) are chosen as solvents for flow
regime characterization. Propionic acid is used as the solute to be extracted from the organic to the
aqueous phase. The experimental results are used to determine the mass transfer coefficient. 

Comparative analysis will be done for estimating mass transfer coefficients in batch, slug and stratified flows.

Effect of different solvents, slug sizes and the presence of thin film between slug and wall will also be highlighted. Conditions under which
microstructured contactors can be preferred to the conventional systems will be obtained.