MASS-TRANSFER ANALYSIS OF EXTRACTION WITH A SUPPORTED POLYMERIC LIQUID MEMBRANE

Supported polymeric liquid membranes with polypropylene glycol as the liquid phase were tested for extraction of p-nitrophenol from an aqueo us wastestream. Transient experiments with small flat sheet membranes were used to determine the membrane permeability and the diffusion coe fficient in the liquid phase. The process was then scaled up using hol low-fiber radial-flow modules, first in the laboratory and then under plant conditions. When boundary layer resistance and membrane accumula tion and depletion were allowed for, the results obtained were consist ent with predictions based on the data for flat sheets.