Reactive extraction of zinc ions in the Scheibel column; A case study by applying the mathematical modelling of mass transfer with forward mixing

An experimental and modeling study on the feasibility of the Scheibel extraction column is presented for heavy metal separation from chloride solution. In continuous experiments, the chemical reaction systems are considered zinc extraction by D2EHPA and stripping from the loaded organic phase by chloride solutions. The experimental results represent that the best extraction and stripping rates in the agitation speed of 155 rpm and the rate of inlet phases of 28 L/h are equal to 99.56% and 98.11%, respectively. The mass transfer modeling by applying the forward mixing is interpreted for solvent extraction systems in this column with the fitting technique. The calculated results from theoretical models compared with the experimental data, which good agreement was obtained using this model. The mathematical modeling on the reactive mass transfer data expresses that the axial dispersion coefficients based on the dispersed phase improve with increased agitation speed and dispersed phase rate. In contrast, these coefficients have an inverse relation with the continuous phase flow rate. This paper's experimental and numerical study provides beneficial information about the metallurgical industry to design solvent extraction columns.