A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF DROP-POPULATION BALANCES FOR THE DESIGN OF SOLVENT EXTRACTION COLUMNS: I. CONCEPT OF SOLVING DROP-POPULATION BALANCES AND MODELLING BREAKAGE AND COALESCENCE

摘要

Population-balances are a powerful method to predict the population behavior of drops in chemical-engineering equipment such as solvent extraction columns. In such columns a complex interaction of different phenomena, namely drop sedimentation, mass transfer, drop breakage and coalescence as well as axial dispersion occurs. In this article the concept of drop-population balances is discussed in detail as well as possible solution methods. Also, a critical review of existing models accounting for breakage and coalescence taking place in extraction columns is presented. Future parts of this series will be devoted to modelling mass-transfer and sedimentation as well as on application of single-drop based modelling.