Abstract
ABSTRACT Complexing agents are commonly employed as extractants for copper extraction, selectively removing copper while leaving other impurities in the aqueous phase. This study aims to optimize the combination of organic solvents in the solvent extraction process of copper when iron (II) impurity is present. Nine different organic solvents were investigated using experimental design and response surface methodology. The effects of ketoxime mole fraction (the mole ratio of ketoxime to the total amount of ketoxime and aldoxime), modifying agent concentration (%wt.), and temperature (°C) on the separation factor of copper and iron were examined for both extraction and stripping stages. Through extraction percentage versus pH diagrams, the organic solvent with a ketoxime mole fraction of 0.5 and a modifying agent concentration of 40% wt. demonstrated superior performance, yielding over 99% copper extraction and 10.40% iron extraction at pH 2.5 among the nine organic solvents. The slope analysis method determined an extraction number of 2 for the copper extraction process using all nine solvents. Additionally, McCabe-Thiele diagrams were employed to determine the number of stages required for solvents with favorable extraction conditions. Based on the findings, the organic solvent with a ketoxime mole fraction of 0.5 and a modifying agent concentration of 40% wt. achieved almost complete copper extraction with 2 extraction stages and 3 stripping stages.
Published Version
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