Parametric Study of a Novel Basket Impeller Column

The Basket Impeller Column combines the mass transfer advantages of a spinning basket reactor with the practicality of a dual flow tray column to achieve controllable liquid holdup, as well as a potential solution to many of the problems plaguing current catalytic distillation internals. Sieve plate design, impeller size and speed, along with water and air, flow rates were explored in order to establish a feasible design. An optimal set of specifications was determined via statistical evaluation. Additional experiments were then conducted to obtain correlations for liquid holdup, gas holdup, froth height, pressure drop and power in terms of the significant hydraulic variables.