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 × 10−6 m3/s), and organic phase (0.83-2.5 × 10−6 m3/s) on the mass transfer performance was examined. The maximum stage efficiency attained was ∼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.