Fundamentals and Mechanics of Mixer Operation

One sign of progress is the extent to which sophisticated research on transport phenomena, particularly mass transfer, has penetrated several other fields, including those described in later papers of this volume. Examples include fundamental work on the mechanics of trickle beds [17] within reactor engineering studies of dispersion in laminar flows [18] in the context of separations important to biotechnology coupling between fluid flows and mass transfer in chemical vapor deposition processes for fabrication of semiconductor devices [19] and optical fiber preforms [20] and the simulation of flows in mixers, extruders, and other unit operations for processing polymers. 

The increasing diversity in the applications of liquid extraction has led to a correspondingly diverse proliferation of extraction devices that continue to be developed. This chapter focuses on those fundamental principles of diiiusion, mass transfer, phase equilibrium, and solvent selection that provide a unifying basis for the entire operation. Design procedures for both stagewise and differential contactors alM receive considemtion, including packed and perforated plate columns and mixer-settlers. Some mechanically aided columns are discussed and an attempt is made to conqiare the performance of various equipment tteigns. 

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