Nitrogen enhanced solvent evaporation in a falling film micro contactor

Nitrogen enhanced solvent evaporation is performed in a falling film micro contactor, as a micro reactor based separation process to be implemented in fine chemical and pharmaceutical production. Gas and liquid side mass transfer characteristics are investigated experimentally, while a semi-analytical mass transfer model is developed, solving the mass balance equations. Model predictions are very good for the case of gas side mass transfer but underestimate the liquid side performance. Results show that a twofold increase in benzoic acid concentration can be achieved for a toluene/benzoic acid solution in the falling film micro contactor at relatively low temperatures