RESUMO
The current study develops comprehensive mass transfer models to optimize the rare earth extraction. A plug flow, axial dispersion, backflow, forward mixing-based mass transfer model was created and solved numerically using the fitting technique. The investigated process is a multi-impeller agitated column designed to provide proper contact between organic and aqueous phases to extract rare-earth ions. Taking Sm(III)-Gd(III) separation as an application case, extraction efficiency in the agitation speed of 200 rpm was obtained equal to 95.14%, 76.67% by this column for Gd(III), and Sm(III) ions, respectively. The model's findings were compared with experimental data, and a significant agreement was achieved with the forward mixing model. The results indicated that the high agitation speed is beneficial to increasing the interfacial area while reducing the mass-transfer coefficient. On the contrary, the circulation within the larger droplet improves the transfer of mass, albeit at the expense of reducing the interfacial area. The results showed that the drop size distribution is a crucial factor as the droplet sizes significantly affect the droplet mass transfer. The mathematical models' values of Ec for mass transfer parameters showed that the operational variables significantly affect the mass transfer rate and can cause deviations from the ideal flow path. A reasonable and appropriate estimation of the organic-side volumetric overall mass transfer coefficient was provided, which can be applied to this contactor's design and scale-up.
RESUMO
The current study focuses on the recovery of zinc ions by solvent extraction in the pulsed contactor. The Zn(II) ions from chloride solution were extracted into the organic phase containing di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) extractant. The resulting data were characterized for the relative amount of (a) pulsed and no-pulsed condition; and (b) flow rate of both phases. Based on the mass balance equations for the column performance description, numerical computations of mass transfer in a disc-donut column were conducted and validated the experimental data for zinc extraction. Four different models, such as plug flow, backflow, axial dispersion, and forward mixing were evaluated in this study. The results showed that the intensification of the process with the pulsed condition increased and achieved higher mass transfer rates. The forward mixing model findings based on the curve fitting approach validated well with the experimental data. The results showed that an increase in pulsation intensity, as well as the phase flow rates, have a positive impact on the performance of the extractor. In contrast, the enhancement of flow rate led to the reduction of the described model parameters for the adverse phase.
