Hydrodynamic investigation on a ceramic hybrid pulsed column for the extraction recovery of lithium from salt lake brine

In this study, as an alternative for the traditional stage equipment in lithium extraction industry, the two-phase hydrodynamics of a ceramic hybrid pulsed column was investigated with the high-viscosity actual lithium extraction system. The results indicated that the pulsation intensity was the critical operating parameters, which had a decreasing effect on the Sauter mean diameter. This led to the generation of different operating regimes directly, namely, the mixer-settler regime, dispersion regime and emulsion regime. The dispersed phase holdup had a decreasing trend with the pulsation intensity in mixer-settler regime, while the variation was increasing in the dispersion regime. Meanwhile, the dispersion regime and emulsion regime had narrower droplet size distribution, smaller Sauter mean diameter and lower characteristic velocity. Although the two-phase superficial velocities also had effects on the column hydrodynamics, the influence was not crucial compared to that of pulsation intensity. Empirical correlations were determined to be reasonable for calculating the holdup and droplet diameter with the averaged deviations of 13.0% and 7.0%, respectively. However, the regressed parameters reminded that the effects of the two-phase physical properties can't be ignored on the column hydrodynamics and they should be taken into account adequately for the design of extraction columns.