Mass transfer characteristics in extraction by emulsion liquid membrane system – immobilized emulsion phase

Abstract

Continuous extraction by an emulsion liquid membrane system is usually carried out by countercurrent contact of the two phases in devices like packed columns, mechanical agitated columns, etc. In contrast to the conventional modes of contact where both phases flow continuously, in this work one phase –the emulsion phase is immobilized in the pores of a porous bed while the other phase – the feed solution flows continuously through this bed. The effect of feed concentration, chemical reagent concentration, feed velocity and bed height on the mass transfer performance of this contactor has been studied. Artificial neural network with radial basis transfer function was used to model experimental time dependent exit stream concentration.