Davy mckee combined mixer settler: Some laboratory studies

A small (15 cm square) Davy McKee Combined Mixer Settler has been subjected to hydrodynamic and mass transfer experiments. These included measurements of pumping head, power dissipation, holdup, droplet size and mass transfer efficiency. It was found that the holdup in the dispersed region was in general not uniform, with slight dependence on agitator speed, phase flow rates, etc. The droplet sizes in the impeller region were correlated in terms of agitator speed and system properties. The mass transfer efficiency for the system water/n-butyric acid/kerosene was affected by agitator speed, overall retention time, and the direction of mass transfer (to or from the dispersed phase). However, it was substantially unaffected by the ratio of phases fed.