Liquid–Liquid Extraction of Yttrium(III) Using 2-Ethylhexyl Phosphonic Acid Mono-2-ethylhexyl (EHEHPA) in a Microreactor: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Experiments were carried out in a slug flow microreactor to systematically investigate reaction behavior under variation of flow rate, and a comparative study was made. Y-junction microreactor and T-junction microreactor have been used to extract yttrium(III) using 2-ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl (EHEHPA or P507). Results show that the maximum extraction efficiency of 90.4% in both microreactors could be achieved corresponding to the minimum flow rate of 10 and 100 μL/min. The values of specific interfacial area remain unchanged with the increase of flow rate, and the specific interfacial area of the Y-junction serpentine microreactor is much higher than that of the Tjunction microreactor. Maximum values of volumetric mass-transfer coefficient (1.642 s −1 ) in the Y-junction microreactor are found to be several orders of magnitude higher than those of the T-junction microchannel (0.043 s −1 ) and conventional extractors (0.0197 s −1 ).

Reaction Performance and Flow Behavior of Isobutane/1-Butene and H2SO4 in the Microreactor Configured with the Micro-mixer

“…In this study, the mixture of isobutane and 1-butene was the dispersed phase, whereas sulfuric acid was the continuous phase. The flow pattern of heterogeneous systems in microchannels is mainly laminar flow or slug flow. ,− However, droplet flow was observed in this study. There is a big difference between the physical properties of the hydrocarbon phase and the H 2 SO 4 phase.…”

Sustainable Green Production: A Review of Recent Development on Rare Earths Extraction and Separation Using Microreactors

“…In addition, publications within our research group also studied the intensified extraction and separation performance of the related rare earths in the microreactor and compared the liquid–liquid extraction of rare earth elements in a Y-junction serpentine microreactor, T-junction microreactor, and conventional extractor. The interaction of rare earth elements with P507 in a microfluidic extraction system containing lactic acid as the complexing agent was characterized by spectroscopic analysis (FT-IR analysis, UV–vis analysis, NMR analysis, MS analysis), which demonstrated that the extracted complexes located in the center are formed by cation exchange and the coordination process between PO and RE 3+ . − The literatures proves that the application of microchemical technology in the rare earth separation and extraction industry is environment friendly with broad prospects. Microfluidic technology can effectively solve the common problems in the conventional solvent extraction process as a new low-cost technology.…”

A Deep Insight into the Selectivity Difference Between Y(III) and La(III) Ions Toward D2EHPA Ligand: Experimental and DFT Study

“…Likewise, they raise the possibility of accessing the ultimate product with high purity. However, besides these favorable characteristics, a need for more severe stripping conditions, along with environmental pollutions resultant from harmful P or S elements in the chemical compounds of these extractants, are among the disadvantages of this extractant [35]. In addition, the structure of the extractant and the type of atom-donor electrons play signi cant roles in making decisions about the separation behavior of metal ions [36].…”