Abstract:Extraction columns are favored in industrial separation fields such as similar metal separation and fine chemicals due to their advantages of strong continuity, high safety, and large throughput. The flooding characteristic is a critical parameter for the stable operation of extraction columns. The inherent reason for the flooding susceptibility of extraction columns is the ease of droplet breakup in low interfacial tension extraction systems. In this study, a novel gas stirring technique was employed, utilizing the kinetic energy of bubbles during their ascent and the weak drag force generated by the uneven flow field to replace traditional stirring and pulsed energy forms for droplet breakup. Three extraction systems with different interfacial tensions were selected to investigate the flooding characteristics of the extraction column under gas stirring conditions. It was found that the flooding velocity of the dispersed phase gradually decreased with the increase in gas velocity and continuous phase velocity, and the degree of decrease was higher in systems with high interfacial tension than in those with low interfacial tension. Based on the experimental values, a predictive correlation for flooding velocity with a prediction error of 10.05% was proposed through least squares regression analysis, providing a reference for the design and scale-up of subsequent gas-stirred extraction columns.