Solvent Extraction Equipment & Design Parameter

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Solvent Extraction Equipment & Design Parameter
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Table of Contents
Development Division
Isotherm Prediction from CUAD Curve
Once the process route and correct Solvent The CUAD curve
Extraction Equipment type have been decided, Prediction of Extraction Isotherm
the following are the basic design parameters Prediction of Strip Isotherm
that R & D can provide: Interpretation of Equilibrium Isotherms
Interpretation of the Equilibrium Isotherms
1. Reagent and Diluent choice and Use of Equilibrium Isotherms
composition. The composition of the a. Interpretation of the Extraction Equilibrium Isotherm
organic phase and of the aqueous input b. Interpretation of the Strip Equilibrium Isotherm
streams enable the isotherm to be Use of Equilibrium Isotherms using Overall Ef ciency
Development of SX Design Parameters
determined.
For Proposals
2. Equilibrium Isotherm, Stage Ef ciencies,
For Contracts
Number of stages. Using single stage
ef ciencies the equilibrium isotherm is
converted into the pseudo-equilibrium isotherm and the number of stages predicted using the McCabe
Thiele construction.
3. Solution Compositions for Mass Balance. These will have been determined by the McCabe-Thiele
construction performed above.
4. Mixer Residence Time for given impeller type. This is dependent on the kinetics of the mass transfer
between phases. The mixer residence time together with the organic: aqueous operating ratio xes the
mixer dimensions according to the formula given in section 3. For typical values for copper systems of
this and other parameters see the comparison table.
5. Organic/Aqueous operating ratio. The operating O/A ratio is the volume ow ratio of total organic and
total aqueous streams entering the mixer box. It will normally be in the region of 1:1 so as to minimise
entrainment losses in streams having the settler.
6. Settler speci c Flowrate. The speci c owrate gure determines the cross-sectional area of the settler.
Length-width ratio is approximately 2:1 to 3:1.
7. Dispersion Bed Depth. This is related to the settler speci c owrate, and determined entrainment and
weir height settings.
For typical values for these parameters see the comparison table for copper SX plants.
R and D Division will also provide assistance with the guarantee statements on entrainments, extraction
ef ciencies, overall recovery and methods of test for the guarantee run.
Isotherm Prediction from CUAD Curve

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curve
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The CUAD curve is a summary of the equilibrium distribution data of acidic copper sulphate solutions in
contact with loaded organic solutions. The curves ( g. I ) are drawn for 40% v/v solutions of LIX64N and
LIX65N, at t °C, and must be scaled down for other compositions of v% by multiplying the horizontal axis by
v/40.
The CUAD curve is a log-linear plot of the square root of the aqueous copper concentration divided by the
aqueous sulphuric acid concentration, (( [Cu] )0.5/ [H2SO4 )AQ versus the copper concentration in the organic
phase, ([Cu])ORG. All concentrations are expressed in grams per litre.
Prediction of Extraction Isotherm
The isotherm is a plot of the distribution of copper between the two phases at equilibrium. The Extraction
Isotherm can be predicted from the CUAD curve if the reagent and concentration are known and also if the
pregnant liquor concentration is known.
Readings from the CUAD curve give a set of pairs of coordinates {x,y} where x = [Cu]ORG and Y = (√[Cu]
[H2SO4]) AQ.
The original pregnant liquor has composition Co gpl of copper and ac gpl of sulphuric acid. Now, for every
mole of copper that is transferred into the organic one mole of sulphuric acid is formed in the aqueous phase
(Cu2+ + 2HR ↔ CuR2 + 2H+)
After some copper has been extracted into the organic phase the new aqueous copper concentration is c gpl.
Then the new sulphuric acid concentration is ao + 98.08/63.54 (co – c) gpl.
Hence C using the quadratic formula, and rejecting the impossible root.
(for ax² + bx+ c = 0 x= (-b ± √b² – 4ac/2a)
The extraction isotherm is now drawn by plotting x against c. It is normal to plot the aqueous copper
concentration on the horizontal axis.
Prediction of Strip Isotherm
The
Buyspent electrolyte, or strip
Process liquor, will&have composition
Consulting OreaoLaboratory
gpl of sulphuric acid and Co gpl of copper. The
isotherm is drawn as above Engineering
(NB. the group (Co – C) will be negative Free Metallurgical
as the copper concentration in the Help
Equipment Testwork
electrolyte is rising).
Interpretation of Equilibrium Isotherms
The method is designed to enable plant operation under speci ed conditions to be de ned in terms of
raf nate copper concentration and overall O/A ratio in the strip section. This is achieved by consideration of
the copper contents of the loaded and stripped organic streams.
The speci ed conditions are:
1. Extraction Section
A. Aqueous feed
Cu 2+ gpl, Fe 3+ gpl pH (other impurities gpl)
B. Organic feed
% active solvent v/v in diluent
2. Strip Section
A. Spent electrolyte composition

Cu 2+ gpl, Fe 3+ gpl, free H2SO4 gpl
B. Advance electrolyte composition
Interpretation of the Equilibrium Isotherms
Consider the typical LIX/Cu 2+ extraction and strip equilibrium lines shown diagrammatically plotted on the
same axes in Fig 1, where CF represents the aqueous feed copper concentration, C SE the spent electrolyte
and C AE, the advance electrolyte copper concentrations.
As a result of inef ciencies which occur in any real system, pseudo equilibrium lines are used in the
calculation and these are located by multiplying the equilibrium organic phase copper contents at a variety of
points along the equilibrium line by 0.875 for the extraction curve and by 1.143 for the stripping curve and
plotting these new values with the corresponding aqueous phase values. These factors were chosen based on
previous experience.
The plotting of the extraction and strip isotherms on the same graph is not mandatory, separate plots can
also be used.
The determination of the number of stages required to achieve a desired raf nate can now be carried out as
follows.
Consider Fig 2. The expected stripped organic copper content C SO is xed from consideration of the pseudo
equilibrium strip line and spent electrolyte copper concentration. Extrapolation of this value to the vertical
extrapolation of the spent electrolyte copper content C SE, gives point, A, while intersection with the pseudo
strip equilibrium line gives point B.
A 2 stage strip section can now be simulated using the following construction technique.
From the intersection of the copper concentration of the advance electrolyte, C AE with the strip pseudo
equilibrium line, point C, draw a horizontal line to intersect with the vertical extrapolation of point B at point
D. Then draw a straight line through points A and D to intersect with the copper concentration of the advance
electrolyte C AE at point E.
Two
Buy stage strip system is now
Process de ned, as
Consulting &the horizontal extrapolation
Ore Laboratory of point E gives the loaded organic
copper content, C LO , entering
Equipment the strip section. The overall Testwork
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O/A ratio in the strip section Help
therefore equals
The extraction section can now be de ned by constructing the extraction operating line between points O
and F, the former being the intersection of the CR and C SO values and the latter being the intersection of the
C LO and C F values. Stepping off between this operating line and the pseudo equilibrium line will indicate
the number of extraction stages required to achieve the necessary raf nate, although it is unlikely that an
exact number of stages will result. However, by changes in raf nate copper concentrations, slope of the
extraction section operating line and/or reagent concentration made as a result of results obtained, it is
possible, by successive calculation, to determine the exact number of stages required to achieve a given
raf nate.
The stimulation of a single strip system is straightforward and can be readily deduced from the above
description. Thus, in this case the horizontal extrapolation of point C, the intersection of the advance
electrolyte copper concentration C AE and the strip pseudo equilibrium line, gives the stripped organic copper
concentration C SO, while the loaded organic copper concentration C LO is obtained
by drawing a straight line of arbitrary chosen slope from the intersection of the C SO and C SE values to
intersect the C AE value.
The slope of the line is chosen so that the C LO value produced is within the normal range of percentage of
maximum loaded values used in LIX systems, i.e. 50-70% for LIX 64N and LIX 65N.
The construction of a 3 stage strip system is by trial and error. In this case, the slope of the operating line,
starting from point A in Fig 3, is varied until the second vertical stepped off line, DE, intersects the horizontal
extrapolation of the intersection of the strip pseudo equilibrium line and the C AE value, i.e. point F, in such a
way that the points A, C and E lie on a straight line. Extrapolation of this line to the intersection with the C
AE value, point G, gives the loaded organic copper concentration as before.
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Use of Equilibrium Isotherms
taking into account single stage ef ciencies
The
Buymethod
Processis designed to enable plant&
Consulting operation under Ore
speciLaboratory
ed conditions to be de ned in terms of
raf nate copper concentration percentage
Equipment Engineering copper extracted, Testwork Free
overall system ef ciency Metallurgical
and Helpin
overall O/A ratio
the strip section. This is achieved by correlating the copper contents of the loaded and stripped organic
solution passing between the extraction and strip sections.
The speci ed conditions are :
1. Extraction Section
A. Aqueous Feed
Cu 2+ gpl, Fe 3+ gpl, pH, (other impurities gpl)
B. Organic Feed
% active solvent v/v in diluent
C. Number of stages
D. Operating temperature
E. Single stage ef ciency
F. O/A ratio
2. Strip Section
A. Spent electrolyte composition

B. Advance electrolyte composition

C. Number of stages
D. Operating temperature
E. Single stage ef ciency.
a. Interpretation of the Extraction Equilibrium Isotherm
Consider a typical LIX/Cu2+ extraction equilibrium isotherm shown diagrammatically in Figure 1.
The only known values are the position of the equilibrium line (determined experimentally or from the Cuad
Curves), the concentration of the copper m the aqueous feed, CF, the slope of the operating line (equal to the
overall aqueous / organic volume ratio) and the number of stages which have been selected for study. The
position of the operating line can only be xed from a knowledge of the copper concentration of the loaded
organic solution (extract),or the aqueous raf nate leaving the extraction section and the stripped organic
solution (extractant) entering the extraction section.
The stripped organic solution entering the extraction section is the same solution which leaves the strip
section and consideration of the shape of the strip isotherm together with an estimated value for the amount
of copper in the loaded organic solution enables an approximate gure for the copper concentration of the
stripped organic solution to be assumed. This assumed value is used in the rst part of the calculation which
relates the variation in the copper concentration of the loaded organic solution to that in the stripped organic
solution at a given organic/aqueous volume ratio and number of stages.
In this rst part a series of operating lines is drawn of the correct slope and the correct number of stages
steppedCheckout oursoMining
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equilibrium isotherms. Additionally
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solution Help
resulting from
each of the operating lines chosen is read off,and the related copper contents of stripped and loaded organic
solution tabulated.
The procedure detailed above for a three stage system is illustrated for one operating line in Figure 2.
Thus from Figure 2 the related copper contents of the loaded (CL) and stripped (CS) organic solutions are
determined. The procedure is repeated a minimum of three times so that the copper concentrations of the
stripped organic solutions, CL values, cover the value expected from inspection of the extraction and strip
equilibrium isotherms.
Up to this point, it has been assumed that the system is ideal, i.e. that every stage is an equilibrium stage; For
a real system this is not so and de ciencies in the stages result in the overall extraction being less than that
achieved under equilibrium or ideal conditions, so that the “stepping off” procedure using the equilibrium and
operating lines no longer applies. In any real system, the “stepping off” procedure is carried out between the
operating line and the pseudo equilibrium line, the position of which is a function of the true equilibrium
line, the operating line and the ef ciencies of the contactor stages employed. A knowledge of these
parameters therefore allows the pseudo equilibrium line to be constructed and the effect of-single stage
ef ciencies on the performance of the system as a whole to be calculated.
The method of constructing the pseudo equilibrium lines is given below.
Draw, as illustrated in Figure 3, a series of straight lines of slope equal to the reciprocal of the slope of the
operating line which intercept the true equilibrium and operating lines. Measure the distance between Points
A and B on these lines and multiply the values by a factor, which is calculated from the expression
2 x SSD/100 + SSD
where SSD (Single Stage De ciency) = 100 – percentage single stage ef ciency
Mark on the lines AB point C, the distance AC being the product of the distance AB and the FACTOR
calculated as described above. The pseudo equilibrium line can now be drawn through all the C points
including the intercept of the operating line with the true equilibrium line.
Having now constructed the pseudo equilibrium line for each of the operating lines the corresponding values
of CL (loaded organic) and CS (stripped organic) can now be determined as described previously.
From the calculation method described so far it can be seen that the relationship between the stripped
organic copper concentration and the loaded organic copper concentration can be readily calculated for
different numbers of extraction stages and different values of single stage ef ciency. A graph of the loaded
organic copper concentration against that of the stripped organic for each condition of number of stages and
single stage ef ciency can now be plotted. A typical result showing a family of curves is illustrated in Figure
4
b. Interpretation of the Strip Equilibrium Isotherm
We have so far only considered the extraction system but, as the operation of the extraction system affects
the operation of the stripping system and vice versa, consideration must also be given to the manner in which
the two systems interact.
Like the extraction system, in which insuf cient values are known to enable the system to be described
precisely, the only constant values for the strip system are the strip equilibrium isotherm, the spent and
advance electrolyte compositions and the range of loaded organic copper contents derived previously from
consideration of the extraction section. The copper pick up of the electrolyte in the strip section is de ned by
the proposed operation of the tankhouse and as a consequence, the O/A ratio to be used in the strip section
is a variable,
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A typical
Buy LIX/copper strip equilibrium
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Figure 5.
As with the extraction system, a relationship is drawn between the copper contents of the stripped and
loaded organic solutions and, as there is a range of loaded organic copper contents to be considered, a range
of related stripped organic copper contents should result. However, for the LlX/copper system operating with
a two stage strip at 100% ef ciency, the steepness of the strip equilibrium isotherm often results in the
copper content of the stripped organic solution remaining constant, within calculation error, when the copper
content of the loaded organic solution changes over the range of values derived previously from
consideration of the extraction section. As stated previously, the precise slope of the operating lines in the
strip section is unknown. The method of establishing the position of this line for ideal systems is described
below and illustrated in Figure 6.
An operating line is drawn from point O to point P. The slope of the line, representing a particular O/A ratio,
is chosen so that the required stage process (two in the diagram) results in the spent electrolyte solution inlet
the system being of concentration C SE2, i.e. different from the required value for the spent electrolyte C SE.
The corresponding stripped organic copper concentration C S2 is noted simultaneously. A second operating
line OQ is drawn of such a slope that again for the required stage process, the spent electrolyte solution inlet
the system is different from C SE. However in this case the line is chosen so that Q is on the opposite side of
C SE on the ordinate to point P. The corresponding stripped organic copper concentration C S1 is read
simultaneously. Plotting the related values of C SE1 and C S1 and inserting the required value of the spent
electrolyte concentration, C SE, enables the corresponding copper content of the stripped organic solution to
be determined, Figure 7. For most LIX/copper systems the relationship between C SE1 and C S1 will be a
straight line. However if this is not so, further points may have to be derived by the method described above
to enable the correct curve to be drawn as in Figure 7.
As for the extraction section, we have up until now only considered ideal systems, i.e. 100% ef cient in all
stages, but again real systems operate at lower ef ciencies. To take account of this, a method identical with
that used for the extraction section is followed and is described below.
Draw, as illustrated in Figure 8, a series of lines intersecting the true equilibrium and operating lines whose
slope is the reciprocal of the slope of the operating line. Measure the distance between the points A and B on
these lines and multiply the values by the FACTOR calculated from the chosen single stage ef ciency, as
described previously for the extraction isotherm. Mark on the lines AB, point C the distance BC being the
product of the distance AB and the FACTOR calculated as described previously. The pseudo equilibrium line
can now be drawn through all the C points, including the intercept of the operating line with the true
equilibrium line.
Having now constructed the pseudo equilibrium line, the values of C SE and C S can be determined as
described previously.
The procedure is repeated for the other extreme loaded copper concentration CL2.
For many LIX/copper systems the steepness of the equilibrium isotherm results in no signi cant change in
the copper content of the stripped organic over a range of loaded organic copper contents. This fact simpli es
the calculation in that only two loaded organic copper contents need to be considered. However for systems
where this is not the case, a minimum of three loaded organic copper
contents must be used to enable the accuracy of the method to be maintained.
The resulting related values of copper in the loaded and stripped organic solutions are plotted on the same
graph as the comparable gures from the extraction section calculation (Figure 4) to give a graph shown
diagrammatically in Figure 9.
Each of the intersections on the graph in Figure 9 corresponds to the steady state copper concentrations of
the stripped and loaded organic, solutions passing between the extraction and strip sections when each
section is operating with the number of stages and the single stage percentage ef ciency described. Thus the
intersection detailed corresponds to an x stage extraction/y stage strip system operating at 80% single stage
ef ciency in the extraction section and 90% single stage ef ciency in the strip section. The steady state
concentration
Buy Process of copper in the stripped organic
Consulting & solution is C SE
Ore while that in the loaded organic solution is C
Laboratory
Le.
These two values together with the extraction section O/A ratio and feed copper concentration can now be
used to calculate the copper concentration of the raf nate, the ef ciency of the whole system, the %
extraction for the system described and the strip section O/A ratio in the following manner.
Subtracting the derived value of copper in the stripped organic solution from the derived value of copper in
the loaded organic solution gives the amount of copper extracted into the organic phase.
C Le – C Se = C Ex
Multiplication of the amount of copper extracted into the organic phase by the O/A ratio in the extraction
section gives the amount of copper extracted from the aqueous phase.
C Ex x O/A = C Ex A
Subtracting the amount of copper extracted from the aqueous phase from the concentration of copper in the
aqueous feed gives the concentration of copper in the raf nate for the system as previously described.
C F – C Ex A = C R e
The % extraction can be readily calculated by dividing the amount of copper extracted from the aqueous
phase by the amount of copper in the aqueous feed and multiplying by 100.
C Ex A x 100/C F = % extraction
The total system ef ciency can be calculated using the following equation:
C F – C Re/C F – C Re* x 100 = Total System Ef ciency
where,
C F = concentration of copper in the aqueous feed
C Re = concentration of copper in the raf nate under speci ed system conditions
and C Re* = concentration of copper in the raf nate under conditions of 100% ef ciency in both the
extraction and strip sections.
Finally the overall strip section O/A ratio can be calculated by dividing the copper drop in the tankhouse by
the amount of copper stripped in the strip section.
Copper drop in tankhouse/C Ex o
Use of Equilibrium Isotherms using Overall Efficiency
The
Buyconstruction
Process is performed using the&
Consulting equilibrium isotherm and the operating line. This will give the
Ore Laboratory
number of stages and the compositions
Equipment Engineeringat 100% ef ciency. The overall compositionFree
Testwork Metallurgical
changes are C ORGHelp
and C
AQ. Using an overall ef ciency, these changes will be η x C ORG and η C AQ.
In Extract the pregnant liquor concentration will be known and a value for the stripped organic assumed and
hence the loaded organic and raf nate concentrations are culculated. These points will lie, on a line parallel
to the operating line. (see gure 33.)
Unlike the 100% ef cient operating line the stepping-off procedure cannot be used for the 95% ef cient line
as a pseudo-equilibrium curve needs to be drawn. This is dependent on the individual stage ef ciencies and
it can be deduced from gure 33 that an in nite rariety of different individual stage ef ciencies can be used
to give the same overall ef ciency.
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For Proposals
The extraction and strip isotherms will be predicted from the CUAD curve. All others parameters will be
estimated using the gures from previous relevant contracts as a basis.
For Contracts
The design parameters for a contract will be nalised by a programme of test work. This may include pilot
plant results and/or laboratory testwork conducted by client or by DPG.
SX Solvent Extraction of Metals: A Design Manual
By Anupam | February 3rd, 2017 | Categories: Leaching, Reagents & Chemicals | Tags: SX, SX-EW | Comments Off
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