Determination of the Liquid/Liquid Mass Transfer Coefficient for Each Phase in Microchannels

The overall mass transfer coefficient of liquid/liquid microflows has been extensively studied, but the liquid/liquid mass transfer coefficient for each phase in the microchannels has never been reported the best of our knowledge. In this work, the overall mass transfer coefficient and mass transfer coefficient for each phase (inside and outside droplet) of liquid liquid microflows were determined using H2SO4/cyclohexanone oxime/n-hexane as the working system. Concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) was used as the continuous phase, and the n-hexane solution containing a certain concentration of cyclohexanone oxime was used as the dispersed phase. A T-junction microchannel was used to generate liquid/liquid microflows. The influences of initial concentration of cyclohexanone oxime, two phase flow rates, and phase ratio were studied. The results showed that the mass transfer coefficient for each phase increased with the increasing of continuous phase rate. New mass transfer coefficient prediction models for each phase have been established, which could predict experimental results very well.