Study of nonionic surfactants on HVOCs removal from coacervate solutions using cocurrent vacuum stripping in a packed column

Abstract

ABSTRACTCloud point extraction has been shown to be an effective technique to remove hydrophobic volatile organic compounds (HVOCs) from aqueous solution using nonionic surfactant. A cocurrent vacuum stripper is used to recover the surfactant in coacervate phase from extraction for economic viability. The solutions containing two series of aromatic and chlorinated HVOCs. Surfactants studied were alkyl phenol ethoxylates, secondary alcohol ethoxylates (AEs), and branched secondary AEs. From equilibrium measurements, the apparent Henry’s law constant (volatility) of the HVOCs in surfactant solution decreased with increasing HVOCs hydrophobicity due to solubilization of the HVOCs in micelles. The results showed that the mass transfer of HVOC decreases due to the solubilization enhancement of the HVOCs.