Butyric Acid Reactive Extraction Using Trioctylamine in 1-Decanol: Response Surface Methodology Parametric Optimization Technique

Abstract

The optimization of the reactive extraction of butyric acid from an aqueous stream was effectively carried out using response surface methodology. Three process parameters were studied, viz. initial butyric acid concentration, trioctylamine concentration and temperature, to examine the interactive effects on extraction efficiency and distribution coefficient. A Box-Behnken design comprising of seventeen experimental runs was utilized in the reactive extraction study of butyric acid. Analysis of a second-order polynomial model yielded the following optimal conditions: temperature 301.829 K, initial butyric acid concentration 0.493 kmol/m3, trioctylamine composition 26.417%v/v with the following responses: distribution coefficient = 28.795 and extraction efficiency of 96.666%. Experimental validation of the model was carried out with the predicted process variables, and the responses obtained (distribution coefficient = 27.171, extraction efficiency = 96.450%) were in close conformity to the predicted outcomes. Three-dimensional surface plots obtained from statistical analysis demonstrated that the butyric acid concentration and TOA composition had a more significant and interactive effect than the temperature on the response value in the reactive extraction process.