Heavy Phase flow rate : Extract Composition (g/l) Time (min)

10 L/min 0.6 mL 5
0.8 mL 10
Light Phase flow rate : 0.9 mL 15
1.0 mL 20
15 L/min
1.0 mL 25
Raffinate Composition (g/l) Time (min)
48.2 mL 25
Heavy Phase flow rate : Extract Composition (g/l) Time (min)
15 L/min 1.5 mL 5
1.8 mL 10
Light Phase flow rate : 2.8 mL 15
2.8 mL 20
15 L/min
Raffinate Composition (g/l) Time (min)
53.9 mL 15
Heavy Phase flow rate : Extract Composition (g/l) Time (min)
20 L/min 2.2 mL 5
2.8 mL 10
Light Phase flow rate : 2.8 mL 15
Raffinate Composition (g/l) Time (min)
15 L/min
85.6 mL 15

4.0 Results and Discussions

Experimental Data :

Data Analysis and Discussion

The data collected from the experiment show that as the flow rate of the heavy phase
is increased while keeping the light phase flow rate constant, the number of time interval
taken for the extract composition to near constant becomes less. As the flow rate of the heavy
phase increases, a higher volume of the particular phase is brought into contact with the
opposite phase thus increasing the residence time of the two phases together within a certain
time interval. This allows the steady state to be reached much faster, thus giving constant
extract composition data.

The composition of the extract is observed to be increasing with increasing time

intervals of 5 minutes. This shows that the system is moving towards a steady state within the
time interval and once the steady state has been reached, the extract composition remains
constant.
The heavy phase, light phase, solvent, solute and diluents.
Heavy phase Water
Light phase Iodine and hexane
Solvent Water
Solute Iodine
Diluents Hexane
Table 1:Heavy phase, light phase, solvent, solute and diluent components identified from the experiment.

The dispersed phase and the continuous phase.

Dispersed phase Continuous phase
Iodine and hexane Water
Table 2: Dispersed and continuous phase components identified from the experiment.

Equilibrium contact.
Equilibrium contact is an equilibrium separation process which is usually operated in
a counter current configuration in which the heavy phase and light phase are made to flow
opposite to each other is a closed vessel. The contact process can be viewed as a stage wise
process in which the two layers of heavy phase and the light phase are contacted thoroughly
in each stage and leaves at equilibrium.

Effect of flow rate towards the extraction performance.

Theoretically, steady state can be achieved faster when the flow rate of the heavy
phase increases. When the flow rate of heavy phase increase , the concentration of extract
composition will also be higher. Thus can improve the extraction performance.

Ways to increase the performance of extraction process.

First of all, solvent selection is most important. The desired properties of solvents
should be high distribution coefficient, good selectivity towards solute and little or no
miscibility with feed solution. Also, the solvent should be easily recoverable for recycle.

Temperature can also be used as a variable to alter selectivity. Elevated temperatures

are sometimes used in order to keep viscosity low and thereby minimizing mass-transfer
resistance. Other parameters to be considered are selectivity, mutual solubility, precipitation
of solids and vapor pressure.

The pH becomes significant in metal and bio-extractions. In bio-extractions (e.g.,

Penicillin) and some agrochemicals (e.g. Orthene), pH is maintained to improve distribution
coefficient and minimize degradation of product. In metal extractions, kinetic considerations
govern the pH. In dissociation-based extraction of organic molecules, pH can play a
significant role (e.g., cresols separation).

Residence time is an important parameter in reactive extraction processes (e.g., metals

separations, formaldehyde extraction from aqueous streams) and in processes involving
short-life components (e.g., antibiotics & vitamins)

Importance of liquid-liquid extraction process in chemical engineering.

 Liquid-liquid extraction is a type of separation process that allows different
compounds to be separated based on their solubilities. This involves the usage of different
immiscible liquids. The liquids used in this process are usually water and a solvent. This is a
common chemical process and there are several pieces of equipment that perform this task.

In addition to helping in studying certain solutions, liquid-liquid extraction also has

industrial applications. This type of extraction is often used in biotechnological settings.
Biologically produced chemicals and fuels, like algae, often required liquid-liquid extraction.
This allows engineers to separate the different components of these fuels. Not all of the
fermented and biologically formed components are usable, so they must be extracted while
keeping the rest of the useful solution intact. Liquid-liquid extraction is used to lower the
required energy levels for the distillation of these solutions.

Conclusion

From the experiment, the relationship between the change of flow rate and the
extraction efficiency is obtained. In this experiment, it is observed that the change of flow
rate for the heavy phase liquid in the liquid-liquid extraction will increase the extraction
efficiency as the time taken to achieve extraction equilibrium will be shorter. On the other
hand, the decrease in the heavy phase flow rate will decrease the extraction effiency as the
time taken to achieve extraction equilibrium will be longer.