Hollow-Fiber Membrane Extraction of Copper from Aqueous Nitrate Media by LIX® Reagents: Comparison of Extraction Efficiency and Fractional Resistances

Abstract

Extraction of copper from nitrate/nitric acid aqueous solutions was studied using a HF Membrane Module and four LIX reagents (LIX® 860N-I, LIX® 984N, LIX® 84-I, and LIX® 65N) containing different active compounds (ketoximes and/or salicylaldoximes). Kinetic experiments varying the flow rates of both phases, aqueous and organic, and the extractant concentration were carried out to compare the extraction rate and efficiency from nitrate-aqueous media. A mathematical model based on the “aqueous extraction mechanism” in which the chemical reaction takes place in an aqueous-reaction zone was applied to determine the individual resistances of the copper mass-transfer process. It was found that the fractional resistance due to chemical reaction in the aqueous reaction zone, which varied from 92.5% to 95.8% in the order LIX® 860N-I < LIX® 984N < LIX® 84-I < LIX® 65N, controlled the total rate of the hollow-fiber copper extraction from nitrate aqueous media.

Keywords:

• Microporous hollow fibers
• LIX extractants
• copper
• membrane-based solvent extraction

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