To study the effect of mass transfer on drop formation, the mass transfer rate during drop formation was measured by an experimental technique in which a continuous phase adder was used, the continuous phase was circulated in the column counter-currently, and the distance of the nozzle tip to the drop collector was kept closely.
From the data obtained from four binary systems, a best model for drop size prediction was chosen, and the model was applied to four ternary systems for obtaining interfacial tension during mass transfer. The drop size was correlated in terms of solute molar flux, nozzle diameter and density difference between the dispersed and continuous phases. Also the interfacial tension change was correlated with solute molar flux. The two correlation equations gave good predictability for the systems studied in this work.
The mass transfer coefficients for the three ternary systems were correlated empirically with the system variables.