CALCULATION OF OPTIMAL DURATION OF EMULSIFICATION AND HOMOGENIZATION PROCESSES IN A BATCH PLANT

ORUXOA

Abstract

This paper presents the development of an engineering correlation for calculating the optimal duration of water-in-oil emulsion formation in a batch processing unit. The study focuses on a low-concentration emulsion with a dispersed phase (water) volume fraction not exceeding 1.5 vol.%. The unit's process flow comprises a disperser and a stirred tank vessel integrated into a recirculation loop. The engineering correlation was derived by approximating the results of mathematical modeling of the emulsification process within the following parameter ranges: total volume of the processed fluid from 0.1 to 0.5 m³; volumetric flow rate in the loop from 0.7 to 2.0×10⁻³ m³/s; and disperser efficiency factor from 0.5 to 1.0. The approximation was performed using a sequential three-stage linearization of the model data: first with respect to the volumetric flow rate, then to the fluid volume, and finally to the disperser efficiency factor. The paper details the algorithm for deriving the final equation and provides the numerical values of the coefficients for the linear equations at each stage. It is established that the optimal emulsification time is directly proportional to the processed fluid volume and inversely proportional to both the volumetric flow rate and the disperser efficiency factor. The adequacy of the derived correlation to the mathematical model data has been statistically validated: the absence of significant differences is confirmed by Student's t-test (tcalc=0.00 at a critical value of tcrit=1.99), demonstrating its suitability for practical engi-neering calculations.