Extraction of dye from aqueous solution in rotating packed bed

The influence of centrifugal acceleration on mass transfer rates in liquid-liquid extraction was investigated experimentally in rotating packed bed (RPB) contactor. The extraction of methyl red using xylene was studied in the equipment. The effect of rotational speed (300-900 rpm), flow rate of the aqueous (4.17-20.8 x 10(-6) m(3)/s), and organic phase (0.83-2.5 x 10(-6) m(3)/s) on the mass transfer performance was examined. The maximum stage efficiency attained was similar to 0.98 at aqueous to organic flow rate ratio of 10. The results suggest that contactor volume required to carry out a given separation can be reduced by an order of magnitude with RPB in comparison to conventional extractors. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.