A new method for the determination of thermodynamic equilibrium constants in separation processes

Abstract

A new approach to the determination of thermodynamic equilibrium constants in ion-exchange and solvent extraction processes is described. A plot of the logarithm of the distributing species activity in the aqueous phase as a function of its concentration in the non-aqueous phase has an inflection point. The ordinate of the inflection point gives directly the logarithm of the thermodynamic equilibrium constant of the reaction considered. This was made possible by finding that the ratio between n power of the free extractant molecule (or free site) activity and the activity of the distributing species-extractant complex is unity as this point.