LAUSR

ABSTRACT This research aims to optimize the influential hydrodynamic parameters in liquid-liquid extraction columns for three different systems of butanol–water, n-butylacetate–water, and toluene–water recommended by the European Federation of Chemical Engineering. The operating conditions of rotor speed, continuous phase, and dispersed phase velocities and two responses of the dispersed phase holdup of dispersed phase and Sauter mean drop diameter are considered to examine their interaction effects in a perforated rotating disc contactor (PRDC) pilot plant by response surface methodology (RSM). A desirable consistency between the predicted and experimental data was observed due to an R2 value higher than 0.99. The maximum dispersed phase holdup and minimum Sauter mean drop diameter (d32 ) were obtained at 0.117 and 0.599 mm, respectively. The results pointed out that the rotor speed is the most substantial variable in the studied responses.