Separation efficiency in distillation operations can be improved by modifying the characteristics of the dispersions formed on the trays. The present work reports on the hydrodynamic and mass transfer characteristics of liquid-solid-vapour dispersions formed on sieve trays without downcomers of a distillation column operating under total reflux conditions. Murphree efficiency and the operating limits of distillation using the ethanol-n-butanol system are analyzed for a large range of vapour velocities and liquid mixture compositions, utilising wettable PVC particles and non-wettable silicone, PE, and Teflon((R)) particles. It was verified that wettable particles show a drastic reduction in the upper operating limit of vapour velocity, but this does not occur for non-wettable particles. Tray efficiency can be increased when non-wettable particles are used, mainly for high vapour velocity operations.