Reactive extraction of citric acid using supercritical CO2 and trioctylamine

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the integrated process of the reactive extraction of citric acid from aqueous solution using supercritical CO2 and trioctylamine. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of process parameters (concentration of reactants in phases, pressure, temperature, mixing rate, mixing time) on the course of the reactive extraction process. The increase of the initial concentration of amine (0.04-0.07 mol∙dm-3) results in the higher efficiency of reactive extraction. The influence of pressure (12-18 MPa) on the process is negligible. The process efficiency decreases with temperature (308-328 K). The increase of stirrer speed (250-500 rpm) leads to increase of process rate, so the final efficiency is obtained in shorter time