Acetaminophen extraction by emulsion liquid membrane using Aliquat 336 as extractant

•Emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) was used to extract acetaminophen (ACTP) from water.•The best values of the operating conditions of the ELM process were suggested.•Practically all of ACTP molecules were extracted from the feed external solution.•ACTP was extracted by ELM even from real waters.

In this work, extraction of acetaminophen (ACTP), currently named as paracetamol, from aqueous solutions by emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) using Aliquat 336 as carrier was investigated. An ELM system is made up of hexane as diluent, Span 80 as the surfactant and potassium chloride as the inner aqueous solution. Influence of operating conditions that affects the permeation of ACTP such as surfactant concentration, extractant concentration, emulsification time, sulfuric acid concentration in external phase, acid type in external phase, internal phase concentration, type of internal phase, stirring speed, volume ratio of internal phase to membrane phase, treatment ratio, ACTP initial concentration and diluent type was examined. Additionally, the effect of KCl concentration in the internal aqueous phase on the stripping of ACTP and the reuse of the recovered membrane was studied. Under most favorable conditions, it was possible to extract practically all of ACTP molecules from the feed external solution. The recovery of the membrane phase was total and the extraction of ACTP was not decreased. The ELM treatment represents a very interesting advanced separation process for the removal of ACTP even from complex matrices such as natural water, sea water and sewage water effluent.