microscopic modeling of mass transfer in lle systems using vof approach: the surface tension effects on mass transfer and hydrodynamics

Liquid-liquid extraction (lle) is one of the main separation processes which has many applications in different industries. among different influencing parameters on lle performance, the surface tension effect (st) has been investigated in the present study which has not been considered before. the mass transfer of a single drop has been simulated using the vof approach with a single-field mass transfer model. due to the large computational time, the moving reference approach has been supplemented with computational code in parallel processing mode. the results showed that with the reduction of st while the other parameters are kept constant, the regime change from spherical to oscillating occurs, the velocity decreases and with an additional reduction of st the droplet breakage happens. despite a considerable reduction in terminal velocity, the reduction in mass transfer rate has not been observed due to interfacial area increase which enhances mass transfer while velocity reduction negatively disturbs that.