LIQUID-LIQUID-EXTRACTION OF PHOSPHORIC-ACID FROM AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS INPULSED COLUMNS

Extraction of phosphoric acid from aqueous solutions, by using n-butan ol as a solvent, has been studied in a pulsed packed column. The varia bles studied are feed flow rate, solvent flow rate, pulsation frequenc y, and amplitude. Based on the results obtained, pulsation was found t o increase the rate of mass transfer. Better extraction efficiencies w ere obtained when the column was pulsed. The aqueous-phase flow rate w as found to affect the extraction efficiency slightly whereas the solv ent flow rate appreciably increased the extraction efficiency. The eff ects of pulse amplitude and frequency are interdependent. When operati ng at low frequencies, the amplitude should be larger than the packing size if any enhancement in the extraction efficiency is to be achieve d. But, generally, an increase in either the amplitude or the frequenc y was found to increase the extraction efficiency.