DEVELOPMENT OF A MINITURE LASER CAPILLARY SPECTROPHOTOMETER PROBE FOR HETEROGENEOUS LIQUID DISPERSIONS

AN INSTRUMENT CAPABLE OF MEASURING MULTIVARIATE (SIZE AND CONCENTRATION) DROP DISTRIBUTION DATA IN HETEROGENEOUS LIQUID DISPERSIONS CAN HAVE SIGNIFICANT VALUE BOTH AS A RESEARCH DEVICE AND AS A PROCESS MONITORING TOOL. SUCH A DEVICE IS NEEDED TO OBTAIN FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND TO IMPROVE THE DESIGN OF LIQUID-LIQUID CONTACT EQUIPMENT IN VARIOUS CHEMICAL, PETROCHEMICAL, PHARMACEUTICAL, NUCLEAR, AND METALLURGICAL PROCESSES. PHAEDRON TECHNOLOGIES, INCORPORATED BELIEVES THAT SUCH A MINIATURE PROBE CAN BE DEVELOPED FOR THESE APPLICATIONS AND MADE AVAILABLE AT MODEST COSTS. THIS OPTIMISM IS SUPPORTED BY RECENT SUCCESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF A LASER CAPILLARY SPECTROPHOTOMETER (LCS) SYSTEM TO OBTAIN BIVARIATE DROP DISTRIBUTION. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS THE DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF A MINIATURE LCS PROBEFOR DIRECT INTRODUCTION INTO PROCESS VESSELS TO MEET VARIOUSPROCESS REQUIREMENTS. IN PHASE I, A SUITABLE PHOTOELECTRIC CIRCUIT FOR DATA ACQUISITION AND THE NECESSARY SOFTWARE FOR DATA ANALYSIS WILL BE DEVELOPED TO IMPLEMENT THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, AND THE DEVICE WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED. ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS WOULD ACCRUE FROM CONTROLLED PRODUCTION OF SPECIFICALLY TAILORED SPECIALTY CHEMICALS DUE TO MONITORING CAPABILITIES HERETOFORE NOT POSSIBLE.