Experimental and model studies of p-nitrophenol and phenol separation in the bulk liquid membrane with the application of bond-graph method

A new method has been developed to describe the transport and separation of phenolic compounds in the agitated bulk liquid membrane system (ABLM). The pseudo-thermodynamic network analysis was applied to simulate the solution-diffusion transport of phenol (PH) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) with a fast neutralization reaction in the stripping solution. The comparison of the experimental results in the system: PH, PNP aq. soln. (pH = 2)|cyclohexane|NaOH soln. (pH = 10) with the results of calculations indicate that the model can be successfully applied for prediction of the time dependent PH/PNP separation characteristics of the ABLM system under study. It was found that the separation PH/PNP factor attaining 50 was observed by experiments and calculations. The liquid membrane system can be considered as useful for phenol removal from the mixture with PNP or PNP cleaning as the reagent for its specific applications. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.