Study on the feasibility of using a pilot plant Scheibel extraction column for the extraction and separation of lanthanum and cerium from aqueous solution

Batch and continuous experiments were carried out in a Scheibel extraction column to separate La(III) from Ce(III). Central composite design was used to evaluate the influence of pH, extractant concentration in the batch experiments, and the influence of rotor speed, phase flow rates in the continuous experiments. At optimum conditions (pH 3.5, D2EHPA extractant concentration 0.05 M, rotor speed 128 rpm, dispersed phase flow rate 32 L/h and continuous phase flow rate 18 L/h), high extraction efficiency and separation factor equal to 88.12% and 4.89, respectively, for cerium separation from lanthanum were reasonably well predicted by the model. At higher rotor speed, La(III) and Ce(III) ions move faster from aqueous to the organic phase, which retards the higher interaction between ions and D2EHPA extractant. The results showed that this extraction column could be a potential candidate for the extraction and separation of La(III) and Ce(III) ions or other industrial wastewater.