In this study

on basis of verification of single-phase flow field simulation by computational fluid dynamics (CFD)

the mean age theory was employed to estimate axial mixing distribution in a pilot-scale rotating disc contactor (RDC). In order to validate the mean age theory

two results of theoretical mean residence time and the simulated values by species transport model were compared. It showed that the mean age theory is capable to relatively accurately predict the axial mixing distribution in RDC within ten seconds of computional time

far shorter than two weeks by traditional species transport model

hence possesses the advantage of low computational cost. Moreover

the mean age theory is also capable to provide the spatial distribution information of axial mixing distribution

while the traditional species transport model does not. Hence

the mean age theory can provide more information for structural optimization

and is an efficient method to calculate the axial mixing distribution for extraction. Subsequent analysis on hydrodynamics in RDC showed that it is appropriately mixed flow in compartments and plug flow between compartments

which is favorable for extraction operation. Compared with the well mixing between rotors

the flow field between stators has apparent dead flow zones

which are mainly attributed to two factors of low flow velocity and cyclic vortex structure. The dead zones cause a certain flow non-idealities and are disadvantage for extraction efficiency. Hence

the structure of the stators in RDC needs to be further improved.