Intensification of citric acid extraction by a mixture of trioctylamine and tridodecylamine in different diluents

Abstract

Extraction of citric acid (0.595 mol.kg(-1)) from aqueous solutions has been investigated by using binary extractant system comprising of trioctylamine (TOA) + tridodecylamine (TDA) at six different concentrations (0.19 mol.kg(-1) to 1.16 mol.kg(-1)). The extractant system is diluted using five different solvents such as dimethyl phthalate (DMP), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), 2-octanone, 1-decanol, and cyclohexylacetate (CHA). The batch extraction results of citric acid for the design of a separator have been obtained. The data are interpreted in terms of distribution coefficient (D), loading factors (Z), and extraction efficiency (%E). The values of D for the citric acid extraction are found to vary from 0.40 to 118 for DMP, MIBK, and 2-octanone. For 1-decanol and CHA diluent, the values are observed in the range of 0.38 to 98.16 and 0.39 to 86.76, respectively. Considerable amount of citric acid is recovered (almost 99 %) by all the aminediluent systems at 1.16 mol.kg(-1) initial concentration of (TOA + TDA) mixture.