This article deals with the evaluation of the consumption of energy fora steady state solvent extraction in a novel L-shaped pulsed sieve-plate column, which is highly required for design and optimization of the periodic flow processes for industrial applications. In this regard, a comprehensive evaluation on the energy consumption in case of a pulsed flow for three different chemical systems is conducted and besides the influence of pulsation intensity, the effect of geometrical parameters including the plate spacing and the plate free area is investigated as well. Moreover, the concept of characteristic velocity models at flooding points is evaluated with respect to the variation of pressure drop along the column at different operational conditions. (C) 2017 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.