New Dissolved Nitrogen Predispersed Solvent Extraction Method, 1: Performance

The new Dissolved Nitrogen Predispersed Solvent Extraction (DNPDSE) method was invented for promoting the operational power and improving the equipment performance used in the conventional solvent extraction (SX) method, especially for dilute solutions. The main difference between this method and the SX method is in the mixing mode of aqueous and organic phases. The mixing operation in the SX method is performed with drop dispersion of one phase into another phase; however, in the DNPDSE method, it is carried out with bubble dispersion of organic phase into the aqueous phase. As a result, the performance of the method is improved due to the increase in the contact area of the two phases, thus enhancing in the buoyancy force of the organic phase. The performance comparison of the two methods in similar conditions showed that the copper recovery in the DNPDSE method compared with the SX method in dilute (128 mg Cu/L) and dense (2000 mg Cu/L) synthetic solutions was increased by 22% and 2.5% (on average), respectively.