Diseño y construcción de una columna de extracción líquido-líquido para el laboratorio de operaciones unitarias de la facultad de ciencias - ESPOCH

Abstract

The aim of this work was to implement a Scheibel type liquid-liquid extraction column for the separation of binary mixtures by means of solvents. This equipment is available for use in the Unit Operations Laboratory of the Faculty of Sciences-ESPOCH, to complement the theoretical part with the experimental part in the educational environment. The design of the column was based on criteria such as: the choice of the mixture and the appropriate solvent based on its characteristics; in addition to the determination of design parameters such as: number of stages, height, diameter, slenderness and mesh volume. Among the design variables of the hydraulic system and the agitation system, the pipe diameter and the shaft rotation speed stand out. Once these values were established, a tower with a height of 1,20 m, an internal diameter of 7 cm and a capacity of 3,45 L was built. In the upper part of the support structure, two storage tanks with a capacity of 6,80 L each were placed for the inlet of the mixture and the solvent that initiate the extraction process. After the installation of the equipment, a demonstration test was carried out by extracting ethanol from gasoline by the action of water as an extracting solvent, achieving a decrease in the alcohol concentration from 50% to 12% in the gasoline-ethanol mixture. It was concluded that the liquid extractor designed and constructed allowed obtaining an extraction efficiency of 86% and a yield of 88%, which was considered a satisfactory result for a non-recirculating extraction with a 1:2 mixture-solvent ratio. It is recommended to develop more trials with the use of other ternary systems to evaluate and compare the extraction efficiencies between them.