Permeation study on the hollow-fiber supported liquid membrane for the extraction of Cobalt(II)

The transport of Co(II) through hollow-fiber-supported liquid membrane containing di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) diluted in kerosene was examined. The mass transfer rate, expressed as permeability, P, focused on diffusion through the aqueous layer in the feed solution, the organic layer and the aqueous layer in the stripping solution. Experiments were performed as a function of aqueous feed solution velocity (100-500 ml/min), carrier concentration (0.1-20% v/v), aqueous stripping solution velocity (100-1,000 ml/min) and feed concentration (100-1,000 ppm) with 0.1 M HCl in the product phase. pH of the feed solution was 5.0. The measured permeabilities were compared to generally accepted mass transfer correlations. The validity of the prediction was evaluated with the experimental data, and the data were found to tie in well with the theoretical values. The model is the reported describing that the rate limiting step in the transport of the ion was the diffusion through both aqueous films, feed and stripping, whereas the organic resistance of the membrane was negligible. From this study, the model has good potential for the prediction of permeability of Co(II).