Mass transfer evaluation in a multi-impeller extractor for reactive Mo (VI) extraction from aqueous Sulphate solution by utilizing coupling of acid and solvating Extractants

Abstract

In this study, mass transfer experimental data from the present column with 70 cm active column length and 11.3 cm internal diameter were interpreted for molybdenum extraction with a mixture of D2EHPA and TBP in terms of the axial diffusion model. The influence of extractants concentration and the initial aqueous pH have studied in the bench-scale experiments. The experimental finding demonstrated that the synergistic solvent extraction increases the constancy of the extracted complexes for transfer into the organic phase. The effect of operating parameters, including agitation speed and inlet phase velocities on the overall mass transfer coefficients under the chemical reaction system, is discussed. By considering the reactive extraction system in this column, the results showed that the overall mass transfer coefficients increase with an increase in the agitation speed and inlet phase velocities. It was also found that the column performance is significantly dependent on agitation speed and dispersed phase velocity. However, it slightly depends on the continuous phase velocity. The experiments for solvent extraction processes have performed to obtain the concentration profile along the column in both the aqueous and organic phases as a function of the operating conditions. The available models for the prediction of mass transfer performance were studied, and their predictions have compared with the present mass transfer data. Because of the column geometry and chemical reaction condition, the available empirical models failed to predict the mass transfer data accurately. Therefore, a new correlation had developed to predict the enhancement factor. The values calculated by the proposed model had compared with the experimental data, and a good agreement between them had obtained.