Extraction with emulsion liquid membranes in a hollow-fiber contactor

Journal Article · Mon Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · AIChE Journal (American Institute of Chemical Engineers); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.690391115· OSTI ID:5793735

Raghuraman, B; Wiencek, J ^[1]

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1. Rutgers, The State Univ. of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Aqueous streams contaminated with heavy metal ions may be produced as effluents from industrial plants or during attempts to remediate solids loaded with heavy metals, such as contaminated soils. Metals of particular concern include copper, zinc, cadmium, nickel, mercury, lead, and chromium. An extraction system for heavy metals recovery from dilute waste streams, which can accomplish both extraction and stripping in one step, is an emulsion liquid membrane (ELM). The ELM extraction in a stirred contactor has two main disadvantages. On prolonged contact with the feed stream (greater than 10 min), the emulsion swells with water, increasing the internal-phase volume and in a stirred contactor the internal-phase contents leak into the feed stream because of membrane rupture. This work focuses on the use of microporous hollow-fiber contactors (HFC) as an alternate contacting method to direct batch/continuous dispersion of emulsion liquid membranes. This method of contact will retain the primary advantage that emulsion liquid membrane separations offer, namely, extraction and stripping in a single processing step which circumvents the limits of equilibrium inherent in conventional solvent extraction. However, because hollow-fiber membranes, by their design, allow for high surface area contacting without the high shear rates typically encountered with an agitator, this will result in improved efficiency of extraction by reducing membrane swelling and leakage.

• OSTI ID: 5793735
• Journal Information: AIChE Journal (American Institute of Chemical Engineers); (United States), Vol. 39:11; ISSN 0001-1541
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
METALS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
SUPPORTED LIQUID MEMBRANES
PERFORMANCE
CADMIUM
CHROMIUM
COPPER
EFFICIENCY
EMULSIONS
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
LAND RECLAMATION
LEAD
LEAKS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
MEMBRANE TRANSPORT
MERCURY
NICKEL
SWELLING
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
WASTE WATER
ZINC
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
EXTRACTION
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
MEMBRANES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WASTES
WATER
320305* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Industrial Waste Management
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)