Liquid Extraction

Operation
Meika Syahbana Rusli

Outline
Introduction
Uses

for liquid extraction

Process components & examples
Definition
Equilibrium partition ratios
Phase Diagram

Introduction
Liquid-liquid extraction is a process for separating components in
solution by their distribution between two immiscible liquid phases.
Such a process can also be simply referred to as liquid extraction.
Since liquid-liquid extraction involves the transfer of mass from one
liquid phase into a second immiscible liquid phase, the process can
be carried out in many different ways. The simplest example
involves the transfer of one component from a binary mixture into a
second immiscible liquid phase. One example is liquid-liquid
extraction of an impurity from wastewater into an organic solvent.

Uses for Liquid Extraction

Liquid-liquid extraction is used primarily when distillation is
impractical or too costly to use. It may be more practical than
distillation when the relative volatility for two components falls
between 1.0 and 1.2.
Likewise, liquid-liquid extraction may be more economical than
distillation or steam-stripping a dissolved impurity from wastewater
when the relative volatility of the solute to water is less than 4.
In other cases the components to be separated may be heatsensitive like antibiotics, or relatively nonvolatile, like mineral salts,
and liquid-liquid extraction may provide the most cost-effective
separation process.

Process components & examples

An extraction process usually requires

(1) liquid-liquid extraction
(2) solvent recovery
(3) raffinate desolventizing

Several examples of cost-effective liquid-liquid

extraction processes include

the recovery of acetic acid from water using ethyl ether

liquid-liquid fractionation process for the separation of
aromatics from aliphatics
liquid-liquid extraction process used for recovery of
uranium from ore leach liquors

Example 1 :
Liquid extraction of acetic acid from water

The solvent is recovered by distillation, and the raffinate is desolventized by

steam stripping.

Example 2 : Liquid fractionation process

for separation of aromatics from aliphatics

In this process the extraction solvent, diethylene or triethylene glycol, is

recovered by steam distillation, and the raffinate and extract streams
are desolventized by water extraction.

Example 3 :Liquid extraction of uranium

from ore leach liquor

the solvents, alkyl phosphates in kerosine, are recovered by liquid-liquid extraction

using a strip solution, and the raffinate requires practically no desolventizing because
the solubility of the solvents in water is extremely low.

Definitions
The feed to a liquid-liquid extraction process is the solution that contains
the components to be separated. The major liquid component in
the feed can be referred to as the feed solvent. Minor components in
solution are often referred to as solutes.
The extraction solvent, or just plain solvent, is the immiscible liquid
added to a process for the purpose of extracting a solute or solutes from
the feed. The extraction-solvent phase leaving a liquid-liquid contactor is
called the extract.
The raffinate is the liquid phase left from the feed after being contacted
by the second phase. A wash solvent is a liquid added to a liquidliquid fractionation process to wash or enrich the purity of a solute
in the extract phase.

Definitions (continued)
A theoretical or equilibrium stage is a device or combination of
devices that accomplishes the effect of intimately mixing two immiscible
liquids until equilibrium concentrations are reached, then physically
separating the two phases into clear layers.
Crosscurrent extraction (Fig. 15-4) is a cascade, or series of stages,
in which the raffinate R from one extraction stage is contacted with
additional fresh solvent S in a subsequent stage.
Countercurrent extraction (Fig. 15-5) is an extraction scheme in
which the extraction solvent enters the stage or end of the extraction
farthest from where the feed F enters and the two phases pass
countercurrently to each other. The objective is to transfer one or more
components from the feed solution F into the extract E.

Definitions (continued)
Liquid-liquid fractionation, or fractional extraction (Fig. 15-6),
is a sophisticated scheme for nearly complete separation of one solute
from a second solute by liquid-liquid extraction.
Two immiscible liquids travel countercurrently through a contactor, with
the solutes being fed near the center of the contactor. The ratio of
immiscibleliquid flow rates is operated so that one of the phases
preferentially moves the first solute to one end of the contactor and the
other phase moves the second solute to the opposite end of the
contactor.
Another way to describe the operation is that a primary solvent S
preferentially extracts, or strips, the first solute from the feed F and a
wash solvent W scrubs the extract free from the unwanted second
solute. The second solute leaves the contactor in the raffinate stream.

PHASE EQUILIBRIA :
EQUILIBRIUM PARTITION RATIOS
The weight fraction of solute in the extract phase y divided by the weight fraction of solute in
the raffinate phase x at equilibrium is called the partition ratio, K [Eq. (15-1)].
K = y/x

(15-1)

Thermodynamically the partition ratio K is derived in mole fractions y and x [Eq. (15-2)].
K = y/x

(15-2)

For shortcut calculations the partition ratio K in Bancroft coordinates using the weight ratio of
solute to extraction solvent in the extract phase Y and the weight ratio of solute to feed solvent
in the raffinate phase X is preferred [Eq. (15-3)].
K = Y/X

(15-3)

In shortcut calculations the slope of the equilibrium line in Bancroft (weight-ratio) coordinates
m is also used [Eq. (15-4)].
m = dY/dX

(15-4)

PHASE EQUILIBRIA :
EQUILIBRIUM PARTITION RATIOS (CONTN.)
For low concentrations in which the equilibrium line is linear the value of K is
equal to m.
The value of K is one of the main parameters used to establish the
minimum ratio of extraction solvent to feed solvent that can be employed in
an extraction process. For example, if the partition ratio K is 4, then a
countercurrent extractor would require 0.25 kg or more of extraction-solvent
flow to remove all the solute from 1 kg of feed-solvent flow.
The relative separation, or selectivity, a between two components,
b and c, can be described by the ratio of the two partition ratios [Eq. (15-5)].
a(b/c) = Kb /Kc = Kb /Kc = Kb /Kc
This is analogous to relative volatility in distillation.

(15-5)

PHASE EQUILIBRIA :
PHASE DIAGRAM
Ternary-phase equilibrium data can be tabulated as in Table 15-1
and then worked into an electronic spreadsheet as in Table 15-2 to
be presented as a right-triangular diagram as shown in Fig. 15-7.
The weight-fraction solute is on the horizontal axis and the weightfraction extraction-solvent is on the vertical axis. The tie-lines
connect the points that are in equilibrium. For low-solute
concentrations the horizontal scale can be expanded.
The water-acetic acid-methylisobutylketone ternary is a Type I
system where only one of the binary pairs, water-MIBK, is
immiscible. In a Type II system two of the binary pairs are
immiscible, i.e. the solute is not totally miscible in one of the liquids.