Intensified Applications in Centrifugation

Recent interest from the chemical industry for modular process intensification equipment has motivated another look at the potential for picking up where previous work was done on the topic to develop a centrifugal vapor liquid contactor. Features of such a unit which offer unique advantages in the field of fractionation are high capacity with a large number of theoretical plates, very low pressure drop, and short contacting times. Some preliminary testing of an acetone/water system has been done, the results of which are reported herein along with the analytical method that was used to arrive at experimental conclusions. The approach itself is intended to provide a qualitative view of an entire spectrum of fractionation applications, characterized in terms of one number, the flow factor. There are conditions where the centrifugal contactor appears to be efficient. Because this appears to occur at low flow factors that correspond to vacuum and steam stripping operations, the results are encouraging. At the time this work was done, a capacity for the unit had not yet been determined. It is, however, presumable that the optimum efficiency could be achieved by varying rotor speeds.