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The scale-up of a chemical process from the results obtained in a laboratory scale involves a
high degree of uncertainty. Experimental tests in pilot plants are therefore necessary in order
to decrease that uncertainty. When the processes are not simple, these experimental tests should
be supplemented by simulation studies which are a highly useful tool in the analysis of a chemical
plant. A nondispersive solvent extraction (NDSX) plant includes two processes, extraction and
stripping, coupled by an organic phase. Because of this fact, the variables of the system are
interrelated, making the prediction of the behavior of the whole system difficult. Because of
this complexity, in this work, the behavior of a NDSX pilot plant has been experimentally and
theoretically analyzed. The removal and recovery of chromium(VI) from wastewaters of a galvanic
process have been used as a case study for the simulation and experimental analysis of the
NDSX process. The mathematical model consists of nonlinear partial differential equations which
are solved using the process simulator gPROMS. Once the suitability of the proposed model
and parameters for the description of removal and concentration of Cr(VI) in the NDSX pilot
plant was checked, the simulation was used to perform a sensitivity analysis to operating
variables such as flow rates, volumes, total carrier concentration, and initial complex species
concentration. The theoretically predicted behavior was checked with some experimental results,
and a satisfactory performance of the pilot plant was achieved.
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