On the Use of Ionic Liquids to Separate Aromatic Hydrocarbons from a Model Soil

Abstract

The potential of exploiting ionic liquids (ILs) for an ex situ solvent aromatic extraction technique is envisaged in this work, due to the serious proportions reached by this kind of contaminants associated with the industrial progress. 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide, tetraalkyl ammonium sulfate, trihexyl (tetradecyl) phosphonium dicyanamide, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1,3-dimethylimidazolium methyl sulfate, and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate are proposed to efficiently extract benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene at concentrations over the maximum allowable limit. The extraction procedure is completed with a washing and recycling step with the purpose of achieving a more competitive process.

Keywords:

• aromatic pollutants
• extraction
• ionic liquids
• kaolin-type clay

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank CODISOIL S.A. for the financial support through the Project 08MDS044E.