Liquid-liquid extraction: Basic principles and automation

Abstract

Liquid-liquidextraction(LLE) is a separation technique based on the distribution of a compound, organic or inorganic, between two immiscible solvents.The simplicity, speed and versatility of this technique are the main reasons for its ubiquity in research laboratories and many industries. This chapter focuses on the basic theory for the extraction of one or more target compounds, the criteria for the selection of extractant solvents, the assistance of different secondary equilibria to the extraction process, the most relevant working conditions to optimize the extraction performance, use of different equipment and the automation of the extraction process.