S. Rahmati, A. Ahmadi, M.R. Hosseini, M.M. Nasab, Surface phenomena in air assisted solvent extraction. Hydrometallurgy (2018) 177: 168-177.

Air-assisted solvent extraction (AASX) which is based on the coating of organic extractants on the air bubbles was developed to recover valuable metals from dilute Cu solutions. The effect of the chemical composition of aqueous and organic phases was investigated on the interfacial tension of aqueous/organic/air phases and related thermodynamic coefficients. Results were used to analyze the behaviour of phases and process efficiency in a continuous-mode AASX pilot plant. Interfacial data indicated that a suitable organic coating occurred in the presence of Flomin-F742, Nasfroth-240, and pine oil frothers with positive spreading coefficients. It was found that organic phase recycling in the AASX column was decreased from 86% to 13% by reducing the bubble size from 659 μm to 366 μm, respectively. By the addition of silicone oil dosage from 0 to 75 mg/L to the organic phase, Cu recovery was enhanced …