Extraction of Copper from Aqueous Solutions by Liquid Membrane Processes

Abstract

The removal and recovery of copper from aqueous solutions using hollow‐fiber membrane contactors were studied. Single extraction was performed at different flow rates of phases, the concentrations of LIX 84‐I in the membrane, the contents of copper in the feed phase, and the aqueous media. The overall mass transfer coefficient for copper extraction was calculated from the experimental data and was also evaluated by the conventional resistance in series model. The relative contribution of the resistance due to the chemical reaction to the overall resistance to mass transfer was found significant. The integration of the extraction and stripping stages was carried out in two hollow‐fiber modules. A few tests were also carried out with LIX 54 as a carrier for comparison. The results obtained showed that practically all the copper content was removed and recovered from the ammoniacal and sulfuric feed solutions. The results were then compared with the ones obtained by applying the emulsion liquid membranes technique. Finally, the emulsion phase with LIX 84‐I was used in a single hollow‐fiber module to perform an extraction‐stripping experiment.