A new technology is explored for contacting liquid and fine particle slurry countercurrently. High mass transfer rates and simple equipment make this technology attractive for continuous adsorptive separation of liquids. Present technology simulates countercurrent plug flow of solid against liquid by cyclicly moving feeds and outlets along a stationary packed bed. This method is limited by slow, complicated equipment and by slow mass transfer rates. Also greater than 100 micron diameter particles must be used to avoid excessive pressure drop in the packed bed. This process used a countercurrent cascade of newly developed particle fluidizers to contact liquid with a dense slurry of fine adsorbent particles. Equipment is simple and inexpensive, even when a large number of stages are used. Smaller particle sizes (<20 microns) allows 25 to 200 times faster mass transfer. This process offers an order of magnitude lower capital and operating costs due to simplicity and miniaturization. Research is conducted to determine the feasibility, limitations, and important characteristics of the new process. Experiment shows the ability of the fluidizer to concentrate adsorbent particle slurry and is used to determine the effectiveness of the liquid-adsorbent contacting. A computer model is developed that uses the experimental data to study the process as a whole.
