Equilibria, Kinetics, and Modeling of Extraction of Citric Acid from Aqueous Solutions with Alamine 336 in 1-Octanol

Experimental equilibrium and kinetic data on the extraction of citric acid from aqueous solutions using Alamine 336 in 1-octanol have been determined. The distribution coefficient has increased from 0.029 to 71.727 with increase of Alamine 336 concentration from 0 to 30% (v/v). The chemical equilibria was interpreted as a result of consecutive formation of acid-amine species with 1:1 stoichiometry and the equilibrium complexation constant, KE1, has been estimated as 20.186m3kmol-1. The mass-transfer coefficients of citric acid, Alamine 336, and 1:1 acid-alamine complex in 1-octanol were calculated from acetic acid mass-transfer coefficient, which was determined by measuring its fluxes of simple diffusion from kerosene to water. Based on the Hatta number and the criterion given by Doraiswamy and Sharma, the reaction regime has been found to be instantaneous reaction regime occurring at the interface on the organic phase side. An extraction model comprising 1:1 equilibrium complextion constant, KE1, and complex mass-transfer coefficient, kBA (3.79x10-6m s-1), has been developed, and it explained the present system satisfactorily.