Liquid liquid Extraction (LLE) is an important unit
operation that enables in separating fluids based on different solutes.
It is the separation method of choice where distillation fails, e.g.,
for azeotropic mixtures or temperature-sensitive components. The
separation efficiency in reactive extraction is enhanced by a chemical
reaction.
One needs to evaluate carefully when optimizing the design and operation
of the liquid-liquid extraction process.
- Solvent Selection
- Operating Conditions
- Mode of Operation
- Extractor Type
- Design Criteria
How it is performed?
- Liquid-liquid extraction is done by adding a liquid solvent
phase to the original liquid carrying the components to be extracted
for use.
- At the same time, one of the phases must be dispersed into
droplets in the other, regular phase to get a sufficiently large
mass-transfer interface.
- It is performed in mixer-settler equipment or extraction
columns, which are already equipped with Rotating internals or
Pulsators for energy input to positively influence droplet size.
- Different principles for equipment design are presented:
coupling thermodynamic equilibrium and balances for determination of
required number of theoretical stages, fluid-dynamic design, and
selection of equipment and operating conditions.
- Finally, liquid-liquid extraction is presented, which is
applied, e.g., for metal separation or purification.
Industrial Applications
- Pharmaceutical Industry
- Antibiotics
- Vitamins
- Fermentation Products
- Chemical Industry
- Water treatment Foods & Processing Industry
- Lactic Acid
- Flavors/ Fragrances
- Polymer Industry
- Caprolactam
- Adiponitrile Refining Industry
- Lube Oils
- Aromatics
