Technology, processing, extraction

Extraction, a unit operation, is a complex and rapidly developing subject area (1,2). The chemistry of extraction and extractants has been comprehensively described (3,4). The main advantage of solvent extraction as an industrial process Hes in its versatiHty because of the enormous potential choice of solvents and extractants. The industrial appHcation of solvent extraction, including equipment design and operation, is a subject in itself (5). The fundamentals and technology of metal extraction processes have been described (6,7), as has the role of solvent extraction in relation to the overall development and feasibiHty of processes (8). The control of extraction columns has also been discussed (9). 

Battery breaking technologies use wet classification to separate the components of cmshed batteries. Before cmshing, the sulfuric acid is drained from the batteries. The sulfuric acid is collected and stored for use at a later stage in the process, or it may be upgraded by a solvent extraction process for reuse in battery acid. 

Production of a metal is usually achieved by a sequence of chemical processes represented as a flow sheet. A limited number of unit processes are commonly used in extractive metallurgy. The combination of these steps and the precise conditions of operations vary significantly from metal to metal, and even for the same metal these steps vary with the type of ore or raw material. The technology of extraction processes was developed in an empirical way, and technical innovations often preceded scientific understanding of the processes. 

C. A. Hamer, Held Extraction Processes forNon-Bauxitic Mlumina Materials, Canmet Report 77—54, Canada Center for Mineral and Energy Technology, August 1977. 

The monograph on zinc is a valuable general reference on zinc technology (3). Furthermore, detailed descriptions of extractive processes, resource data, and environmental- and energy-related papers from symposia of the Metallurgical Society of the AIME are a rich source of information (4—7). 

Skelland and Tedder, Extraction—Organic Chemicals Processing in Rousseau, Handbook of Separation Process Technology, Wiley, 1987, pp. 405 66. 

Extraction from Aqueous Solutions Critical Fluid Technologies, Inc. has developed a continuous countercurrent extraction process based on a 0.5-oy 10-m column to extract residual organic solvents such as trichloroethylene, methylene chloride, benzene, and chloroform from industrial wastewater streams. Typical solvents include supercritical CO9 and near-critical propane. The economics of these processes are largely driven by the hydrophihcity of the product, which has a large influence on the distribution coefficient. For example, at 16°C, the partition coefficient between liquid CO9 and water is 0.4 for methanol, 1.8 for /i-butanol, and 31 for /i-heptanol. 

Reneganathan, K., Zondlo, J. W., Mintz, E. A., Kneisl, P., and Stiller, A. H., Preparation of an ultra-low ash coal extract under mild conditions. Fuel Processing Technology, 1988, 18, 273 278. 

Livingston, A.G., Extractive Membrane Bioreactors A New Process Technology for Detoxifying Industrial Waste waters, J. Chem. Tech. Biotech., v.60, pp. 117-124, 1994. 

Proteins (BSA or ovomucoid, OVM) have also been successful in the preparative resolution of enantiomers by liquid-liquid extraction, either between aqueous and lipophilic phases [181] or in aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) [123, 180]. The resolution of d,l-kynurenine [180] and ofloxacin and carvediol [123] were performed using a countercurrent extraction process with eight separatory funnels. The significant number of stages needed for these complete resolutions in the mentioned references and others [123, 180, 189], can be overcome with more efficient techniques. Thus, the resolution of d,l-kynurenine performed by Sellergren et al. in 1988 by extraction experiments was improved with CCC technologies 10 years later [128]. 

This chapter reviews recent findings about the health benefits of phytochemicals present in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and herbs, including phenolics, carotenoids, sterols, and alkaloids. These phytochemicals are extracted using emerging technologies such as supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction, PEF, MWE, HPP, UE, and OH. The impact of important parameters related to sample preparation (particle size and moisture content) and extraction process (temperature, pressure, solvent flow rate, extraction time, and the use of a cosolvent) on the efficiency of extraction and on the characteristics of the extracted products is evaluated based on an extensive review of recent literature. The future of extraction of phytochemicals is certainly bright with the... 

CEP [Catalytic extraction processing] A process for destroying hazardous wastes by reaction with a molten metal at high temperature. Invented in 1989 by C. Nagel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and developed in the early 1990s by Molten Metals Technology, Waltham, MA. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1997. 

Hojilla-Evangelista, M.P., Johnson, L.A., and Myers, D.J. 1992. Sequential extraction processing of flaked whole com Alternative com fractionation technology for ethanol production. Cereal... 

In ODS, sulfur compounds present in fuels are oxidized to more polar sulfones / sulfoxides to facilitate their removal by solvent extraction or adsorption. Various oxidation systems have been reported in the literature for this transformation. Among these oxidants like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and carboxylic acid as catalyst3"5. For the chemical industry, it becomes more and more important to develop cleaner technologies. Solvent extraction processes are used to separate sulfones / sulfoxides from oxidized fuels. These processes required suitable and selective solvents for separation of oxidized sulfur compounds from petroleum feedstocks. 

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) is a well-estabhshed solvent for applications in extraction processes. During the last 40 years, there has been an implementation of large-scale processes, e.g., the extraction of caffeine [6] and the isolation of hop extracts from raw plant material [37]. These examples show that the usage of this supercritical fluid (pc = 73.8 bar, Tc = 31.1 °C) is a state of the art operation in process technology. 

As documented in Chapter 5, zeolites are very powerful adsorbents used to separate many products from industrial process steams. In many cases, adsorption is the only separation tool when other conventional separation techniques such as distillation, extraction, membranes, crystallization and absorption are not applicable. For example, adsorption is the only process that can separate a mixture of C10-C14 olefins from a mixture of C10-C14 hydrocarbons. It has also been found that in certain processes, adsorption has many technological and economical advantages over conventional processes. This was seen, for example, when the separation of m-xylene from other Cg-aromatics by the HF-BF3 extraction process was replaced by adsorption using the UOP MX Sorbex process. Although zeolite separations have many advantages, there are some disadvantages such as complexity in the separation chemistry and the need to recover and recycle desorbents. 

Apparently, the formation of the microporous structure within the PVdF—HFP copolymer was of critical importance to the success of Bellcore technology, and the ion conductivity was proportional to the uptake of the liquid electrolyte. To achieve the desired porosity of PVdF film, Bellcore researchers prepared the initial polymer blend of PVdF with a plasticizer dibutylphthalate (DBP), which was then extracted by low boiling solvents after film formation. Thus, a pore-memory would be left by the voids that were previously occupied by DBP. However, due to the incomplete dissolution of such high-melting DBP during the extraction process, the pore-memory could never be restored at 100% efficiency. Beside the total volume of pores thus created by the plasticizer. 

Chapman, T.W. Extraction—metals processing. In Handbook of Separation Process Technology, Chap. 8 Rousseau, R.W. Ed. John Wiley and Sons New York, 1987, 467. 

---