Solvent Extraction
•What are Separation Processes?
•Methods used to transform a mixture of substances into two or more
distinct product mixtures.
•Crucial in chemical, pharmaceutical, metallurgical, and environmental
industries.
•Examples: Distillation, filtration, crystallization, chromatography, and
extraction.
•Why are Separations Important?
•Purification of products
•Recovery of valuable components
•Removal of impurities
•Environmental remediation
Liquid-Liquid Extraction: A separation technique that transfers a solute from
one liquid phase to another immiscible or partially immiscible liquid phase.
•Key Principle: Differential solubility of a solute in two immiscible solvents.
•Phases Involved:
• Feed Phase: Contains the solute to be extracted (e.g., aqueous solution).
• Extract Phase: The solvent that preferentially dissolves the solute (e.g.,
organic solvent).
• Raffinate Phase: The original feed phase, now depleted of the solute.
•Advantages:
• Suitable for heat-sensitive materials (no phase change required).
• Effective for separating components with similar boiling points.
• Can be highly selective.
What is Solvent Extraction?
Definition: Solvent extraction (also called liquid-liquid extraction) is a method
used to separate compounds based on their relative solubilities in two different
immiscible liquids.
Commonly involves:
• An aqueous phase (usually water)
• An organic solvent
Basic Principle
• A solute is transferred from one liquid phase into another.
• Based on the distribution of the solute between two immiscible solvents.
• Key driving factor: Difference in solubility
Distribution of Solute: Described by the Distribution Coefficient (KD):
𝐾𝐷=[𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒]𝑜𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐/[𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒]𝑎𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠
KD → more solute in organic phase.
Percent Extraction
• Formula: Percent Extraction= ( ×100
Vorg: Volume of organic phase
𝑉𝑎𝑞: Volume of aqueous phase
Batch Extraction
• Process: One-time mixing of aqueous and organic phases.
• After separation, solute is extracted into organic phase.
• Simple but may be inefficient for low KD values.
Continuous Extraction: For Large-Scale Operations
• More efficient and used in industrial applications.
• Description: A continuous flow process where the two phases are continuously
fed into an extraction unit, mixed, separated, and discharged.
• Process: Aqueous and organic solvents flow continuously in contact (counter-
current).
• xn=()n
• An aqueous solution containing 10 g of solute in 100 mL is extracted using 50
mL of organic solvent in 2 ideal counter-current stages. The distribution
coefficient KD=2. Assume constant volumes and complete mixing at each stage.
How much solute remains in the raffinate (aqueous phase) after the 2nd stage?
Examples of Liquid-Liquid Extraction
• Caffeine removal from tea using dichloromethane
• Iodine extraction into carbon tetrachloride
• Antibiotics recovery from fermentation broth
• Citric acid separation from aqueous solution using solvents
Solvent Extraction of Metals
• Application in metallurgy:
• Uranium, copper, rare earth extraction
• Metal ions complexed with extractants (chelates)
• Solvent used: TBP, D2EHPA, Cyanex, etc.
Metal Chelate Extraction: Focus on chelate extraction as a primary method.
• Chelating Agents (Extractants): Organic ligands that form stable, uncharged, lipophilic
complexes (chelates) with metal ions.
• Mechanism:
• The chelating agent (HL) reacts with the metal ion (Mn+) to form a
neutral chelate (MLn).
• This neutral chelate is then soluble in the organic solvent.
• Reaction: M(aq)n++nHL(org)⇌
MLn(org)+nH(aq)+
• Key factors: pH (crucial for deprotonation of ligand), concentration of
extractant, nature of metal and ligand.
• Examples of Chelating Agents: Dithizone, 8-hydroxyquinoline,
acetylacetone, LIX reagents (for copper).
Solvent Extraction of Metals and Metal Chelates
Extracting Metals: From Ions to Chelates
• Introduce the concept of metal extraction, often from aqueous solutions
(e.g., mining leachates).
• Challenges: Metal ions are typically hydrophilic and difficult to extract
directly into organic solvents.
• Mechanism 1: Ion Association: Metal ions form ion pairs with large
organic counter-ions, which are then soluble in the organic phase. (e.g.,
using long-chain amines for anionic metal complexes).
• Mechanism 2: Solvation: Neutral metal complexes (e.g., nitrates) are
extracted into solvating solvents (e.g., TBP for uranium, plutonium).
Metal Chelates Extraction
• Chelating agents form complexes with metal ions
• These complexes are more soluble in organic solvents
• Example: Extraction of Fe³⁺ using 8-hydroxyquinoline (oxine)
Factors Affecting Extraction Efficiency
• pH of the aqueous phase
• Choice of solvent
• Temperature
• Agitation (mixing intensity)
• Multiple stages of extraction
At a glance
• Solvent extraction is a key separation method
• Based on solubility and distribution coefficient
• Efficient in separating metal ions, organic compounds
• Can be applied in batch or continuous mode
• Widely used in chemical, pharmaceutical, and metallurgical industries
Advantages:
•High selectivity (can separate very similar compounds).
•High efficiency (can achieve high purity and recovery).
•Can handle large volumes.
•Relatively low energy consumption compared to distillation for some
separations.
•Versatile, adaptable to various scales.
Disadvantages:
•Requires immiscible solvents.
•Solvent loss (evaporation, solubility in raffinate).
•Potential for emulsion formation (interferes with phase separation).
•Environmental concerns related to solvent toxicity and disposal.
•Stripping/recovery of solute from the extract phase can be complex.
A solute is distributed between water and an organic solvent (like diethyl ether)
with a distribution coefficient (KD) of 5.0
An aqueous solution contains 100 mL of water and 0.50 g of solute. The solution
is extracted once with 100 mL of ether.
(a) How much solute remains in the water phase after extraction?
(b) How much solute is extracted into the ether layer?
(c) What is the percent extraction?
A solute A is to be extracted from 100 mL of an aqueous solution using three
successive 50 mL portions of an organic solvent. The distribution coefficient
(partition coefficient) of solute A between the organic and aqueous phases is K
= 2.0
(a) How much of the solute remains in the aqueous phase after the three
extractions?
(b) What percentage of the original solute has been extracted into the organic
phase after all three steps?
