PHASE INVERSION OF STIRRED LIQUID/LIQUID DISPERSIONS UNDER MASS TRANSFER CONDITIONS.

An investigation was conducted of phase inversion of an organic/water dispersion in a stirred tank. Particular attention was paid to the behavior of the xylene/water dispersion in the presence of solute (acetone and propionic acid) both in phase equilibrium and under mass transfer conditions from the continuous to the dispersed phase. It was found that the former greatly increases the resistance of the dispersion to phase inversion. However, the introduction of a small quantity of solute under non-equilibrium conditions makes inversion easier and practically eliminates the hysteresis effect which forms such a characteristic feature of solute-free inversions. This work finds application in solvent extraction, heat transfer and heterogeneous chemical reactions.