Mass transfer enhancement of acetic acid across a plane kerosene/water interface by an electric field

The intensification of mass transfer of acetic acid from kerosene into water across a plane interface by the application of an electric field normal to the interface is investigated. The application of an electric field affects mainly mass transport through the bulk of the organic phase rather than the interface. In the range (5–30) × 10⁴ V/m the mass transfer coefficient changes from 8 × 10⁻⁶ to 2 × 10⁻⁵ m/s. A model based on the movement of electric charges in the organic phase indicates that a Sherwood‐Grashof correlation for free convection only is also suitable for the electrically driven process if the Grashof number is modified to take into account the effect of the electric field on the movement of the electric charges.