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A fluid‐diode contactor
Author(s) -
Thompson D. W.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450480302
Subject(s) - contactor , countercurrent exchange , mechanics , extraction (chemistry) , mass transfer , flow (mathematics) , fluid dynamics , materials science , mechanical engineering , process engineering , chromatography , chemistry , engineering , thermodynamics , physics , power (physics)
Some of the phenomena made use of in fluidic control devices may also be of utility in designing chemical contacting equipment. An intermittent‐flow countercurrent contactor is described which makes use of flow‐interference effects to convert an alternating applied pressure into countercurrent motion of the two phases. Some design principles of the contactor are discussed and experimental flow measurements reported. Mass‐transfer coefficients for the extraction of n‐butanol into water have been determined in a short test section and are compared to literature values for packed‐bed contactors. The contactor differs significantly from conventional devices in a number of ways, and may offer advantages in several applications: where emulsification is a problem, where simultaneous extraction and reaction are being carried out and heat must be transferred to or from the fluid, or where internal moving parts are undesirable because of corrosive conditions.