Spray Column Extractor is the simplest in construction but suffer from very low efficiency because of poor phase contacting and excessive backmixing in the continuous phase.
They are typically used for basis operations, such as washing and neutralization. The dispersed phase is introduced via a nozzle either at the top or the bottom of the column, depending on whether the heavy phase or light phase is being dispersed.
The continuous phase enters the opposite end of the column, resulting in mass transfer through the vertical counter flow of the two phases. There is no dispersion-coalescence cycle inside the column extractor, resulting in very low efficiency for spray columns.
Spray Column Extractor works best for fluids containing large suspended solids.