Pulse column

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A pulse column is a column-shaped extraction device in which two liquids are pressed in countercurrent intermittently (pulsing) through sieves (pulse plates or sieve trays), whereby certain elements pass from one liquid phase to the other.

The two liquids must therefore not be miscible and must have different densities in order to separate via buoyancy - the lighter liquid is introduced into the column at the bottom. Pulsating flow surges cause turbulent division of the phases into small droplets at the holes in the soil, the enlarged phase interface and the countercurrent accelerate the establishment of the solution equilibrium .

Pulse columns are used, for example, in the reprocessing of spent fuel elements to separate the fissile materials uranium and plutonium from the other components of the solution (see also PUREX process ).

See also