Emulsion liquid membrane based on a new flow pattern in a counter rotating Taylor-Couette column for cadmium extraction

•Cd extraction using ELM was done in a counter rotation Taylor-Couette column (TCC).•Flow regime, shear stress and energy loss distribution of the system were studied.•Lower shear stress maintained emulsion stability and enhanced extraction efficiency.•TCC provides higher extraction efficiency compared to stirred vessel.•Almost 100% cadmium can be extracted within 3 min by the TCC system.

Study of emulsion liquid membrane for cadmium extraction using a counter rotating Taylor-Couette column (TCC) has been done. Characterization was also carried out for determining flow regime, shear stress, and energy loss distribution. It was found that featureless turbulent regimes were obtained with the increase of angular frequency ratio at certain values, produces high mixing activity leading to the enhancement of cadmium extraction rate during the process. Much lower shear stress in TCC system compared to that of stirred vessel led to better emulsion stability thus able to perform better extraction efficiency. High cadmium extraction efficiency of almost 100% with membrane breakage in order of 10−7 makes this method very promising for application in a large scale.