Annular Centrifugal Contactors for Solvent Extraction

Abstract

Annular centrifugal contactors suitable for laboratory use in solvent extraction work have been designed and tested for both hydraulic performance and mass-transfer efficiency. The 2-cm contactors have nominal flow rates of 80 mL/min and mass-transfer efficiencies of at least 85% as measured by the extraction of uranium. These contactors work well for organic-to-aqueous (O/A) flow ratios greater than 0.8. Multistage units allow proposed flow sheets to be tested on a continuous basis in the laboratory. Scale-up to larger plant-size units is straightforward.