Experimental Study of Dispersion and Separation of Phases in Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Copper by LIX 64N in Various Types of Mixers

Dispersion band heights and separation times are reported for dispersions obtained in motionless mixers and packed tubes during extraction of Cu of aqueous solutions by LIX 64N. The results are compared with data obtained with a conventional mixer-settler. Considerable differences were found in the behavior of organic continuous dispersions and aqueous continuous dispersions. It was found that the material the packings are made of can determine which of the phases will be continuous. Results of dispersion band height vs. settling time confirm that static mixers give a narrow range of drop diameters.