Recovery of copper from ammoniacal medium using liquid membranes with LIX 54

The recovery of copper from ammoniacal medium using non-dispersive solvent extraction (NDSX) with hollow fibres as contactors was studied. The β-diketone LIX 54 was used as an extractant. The influence of the flow rates, initial concentration of copper in the aqueous feed phase and concentration of extractant on the extraction rate was examined. The experimental values of the overall mass transfer coefficients for extraction were compared with the ones predicted by the resistance in series model. Simultaneous extraction and stripping experiments were carried out using two hollow fibre modules under several operating conditions. The results obtained showed that practically all the copper content was removed from the ammoniacal feed solutions. The recovery of copper attained 96–100% and concentration ratios of about 40-fold could be achieved. These results were then compared with the ones obtained by applying the emulsion liquid membranes separation technique.