Isolation of low concentrated constituents from side streams of biobased processes has recently received increased technical and economical attention. For energy efficient acid isolation reactive extraction is proposed in literature. The crucial step for efficient process application is the solvent regeneration. Alternatively to conventional reactive extraction, physical extraction with chemical conversion simplifies the technical demand. For continuous operation of heterogeneous catalyzed esterification with physical extraction the Taylor‐Couette disc contactor has proven to be applicable.

The Taylor-Couette disc contactor (TCDC) is a stirred liquid-liquid phase contactor which is suitable for applications in bioseparations. For liquid-liquid reactor design, information about the specific mass transfer area is inevitable. Therefore, the drop size distribution and holdup in the TCDC were investigated under various operating conditions and appropriate correlations for the prediction of these parameters have been determined. Experimental data of drop size distributions were correlated with lognormal, Gaussian, and Weibull drop size distribution functions.

The Taylor‐Couette disc contactor is a hydrodynamic hybrid of a rotating disc contactor and a Taylor‐Couette contactor. For application in reactive bioseparations, this type of liquid‐liquid contactor may offer advantageous operation features. This paper summarizes the design characteristics of the Taylor‐Couette disc contactor. For hydrodynamic characterization, experimental data of the mean Sauter diameter and dispersed‐phase hold‐up were compared with results predicted by empirical correlations, which were originally developed for rotating disc contactors. Several correlations were modified for the application on Taylor‐Couette disc contactors. Operation characteristics have been deduced from mass‐transfer experiments on the pilot‐plant scale.

The Taylor‐Couette disc contactor (TCDC) uses the hydrodynamic advantages of the rotating disc contactor (RDC) and Taylor‐Couette reactor. Drop size distribution, dispersed phase holdup and residence time distribution (RTD) of the TCDC in 0.1 m and 0.3 m diameter scale were determined. A correlation for the prediction of the Sauer mean diameter was validated experimentally for 0.3‐m scale. Analysis of RTD suggests application of the tank‐in‐series model. The number of vessels in series rises with increasing hydraulic load and decrease with increasing rate of rotation. The axial dispersion coefficient was determined in order to evaluate backmixing.