The role of energy dissipation in contacting and mixing devices

The aim of the present paper is the discussion of the relevance of power dissipation as a criterion for the understanding and prediction of transfer and mixing efficiencies in contactors and chemical reactors. After reviewing the approach of Le Goff to the energetic efficiency of exchangers, based on the deviations from Chilton-Colburn analogy, the following processes are studied: mass transfer between a flowing fluid and a reactive solid surface, transfer to a fixed object in a stirred vessel, macro- and micromixing of miscible fluids, and mass transfer in fluid-fluid contractors (especially gas-liquid reactors). It is concluded from the various examples that a direct relationship between the dissipated power and intensity of transfer or mixing can be established only under the two following conditions: local values must be considered at the point where the actual transfer and mixing occur, and not average values over the whole device, and power dissipation must be coupled to transfer or mixing and appear physically as the driving force of the process.