FLUORESCENCE CAPILLARY PHOTOMETRY FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF LIQUID-LIQUID DISPERSIONS

The behavior of droplet swarms in liquid-liquid dispersions, especiall y found in extraction columns, are analyzed by a new fluorescence meas urement technique which represents an extension to the capillary sucti on method. The measuring principle developed benefits from detectable- emission light intensity of a fluorescent dye even in a trace concentr ation. The addition of this nontransferring dye to the dispersed phase enables in situ determination of bivariate drop-size/drop-concentrati on distributions, which provides important information on droplet hist ory for the evaluation of coalescence and breakup rates. Furthermore, the measuring method represents a new approach for the measurement of droplet-size-dependent residence times in extraction columns.