Pilot Testing for Liquid-Liquid Extraction Feasibility

Often times during the preliminary stages of process development for a potential liquid-liquid extraction application, a company is looking to determine if the process is feasible without using a lot of resources, time or materials. In previous papers, a KARR® Column Bench Top Unit (BTU) was identified as a laboratory column to be used for this purpose (1). However, the BTU is limited by an air drive motor to operate at agitation speeds above 100 SPM. Many of the new applications, specifically ones involving extraction from biobased feed streams require lower agitation speeds in order to operate effectively without emulsifying or flooding the column. A test method using a 5/8” diameter x 4’ plate stack height KARR column has been developed that can be used for these more difficult extraction processes. This paper will present case studies where this size column was used to demonstrate the feasibility for three (3) different applications.