Liquid-liquid mass transfer in a serpentine miniature geometry- effect on pressure drop

In this paper, extraction of acetic acid from toluene with water as solvent has been studied in a serpentine miniature geometry of circular cross section with 2 mm inner diameter. The results are further compared with that obtained in a straight tube of same inner diameter. It is observed that, serpentine geometry is responsible for formation of slug droplet regime instead of only slug regime as observed in straight tube. Also due to presence of secondary flow, mass transfer efficiency in serpentine geometry found to be 1.2 times higher than that in straight tube. This results in lower pressure drop than that observed in straight tube. The maximum extraction efficiency in serpentine geometry found to be 94% for the feed to solvent ratio 10.