Mass transfer of phenol through supported liquid membrane

Abstract

The separation of phenol from the aqueous solution was carried out at 25°C in a supported liquid membrane of batch type using benzene or dibenzo-18-crown-6 as carrier in the phenol-NaOH system. The mass transfer of phenol was investigated with a theoretical model based on the mass transfer with or without chemical reaction in the stripping side. Pseudo-first-order reaction type was used to measure overall and individual mass transfer coefficients of phenol. The influence of initial concentration of carrier on overall mass transfer coefficient was found to be more significant than those of agitation speed and initial concentrations of phenol and NaOH solutions. The numerical analysis of facilitated transport of phenol through liquid membrane gave a result that the chemical reversible reaction between phenol and carrier in the liquid membrane side was fallen into the region between fast and slow reaction with the tendency to be much closer to the slow reaction region.