Mass transfer modeling of membrane carrier system for extraction of Ce(IV) from sulfate media using hollow fiber supported liquid membrane

A theoretical and experimental study on the extraction and stripping of Ce(IV) ions from sulfate media using microporous hydrophobic hollow fiber supported liquid membrane has been performed. The experiments were made in the recycling mode. Tri-n-octylamine (TOA) was used as extractant diluted in kerosene and sodium hydroxide was use as strip solution. The mathematical model focused on the extraction side of a liquid membrane system. The aqueous feed mass transfer coefficient (k_i) and the organic mass transfer coefficient (k_m) which were calculated from the model were 9.47 X 10^-2 and 6.303 cm/s, respectively. Therefore, the rate controlling step is the diffusion of the cerium complex across a liquid membrane. In addition, the mass transfer modeling was performed and the validity of the developed model was evaluated with experimental data and found to tie in well with the theoretical value when the concentration of TOA was higher than 5% (v/v).