Continuous Bubble Fractionation Part III, Experimental Evaluation of Flow Parameters.

The performance of a bubble fractionation process was investigated experimentally using liquid flow rate and gas flow rate as variables. Based on an ideal model, the theoretical performance of the continuous bubble fractionation process was qualitatively evaluated. Experimental results indicate that an increase in the bottom effluent rate while keeping the overflow rate constant increases the solute concentration in the top overflow. An increase in overflow rate while keeping the bottom effluent rate constant decreases the solute concentrations of top overflow, but decreases insignificantly the bottom effluent's solute concentration. When the feed rate is constant, optimization of the bubble fractionation system can be achieved by regulating the top-to-bottom flow rate ratio. For practical engineering application, a meaningful combination of physical dimensional parameters into dimensionless operational charts can be useful for plant operators in operating the continuous bubble fractionation process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]