Modeling of liquid emulsion membranes facilitated by two carriers

A mathematical model was proposed to describe the behaviour of liquid emulsion membranes for the extraction of penicillin G in a continuous countercurrent mixing column. A polyamine-type surfactant acts non only as carrier but also as surface-stabilizing agent; thus the influence of surfactant on extraction should be considered in mathematical modeling when its effect is significant. The proposed model takes into account the influence of surfactant on mass transfer. The advancing front model was employed for deriving the overall mass transfer coefficient in the emulsion globule, and the axial dispersion model was applied to the external feed phase. The experimental data were compared with the proposed model, the calculations without considering the contribution of the surfactant to extraction, and the calculations without considering diffusion in the emulsion phase.