LEACHING (SOLID-LIQUID EXTRACTION)

Introduction
Leaching is the process of extracting minerals from a solid by dissolving them in a
liquid. In a typical leaching operation, the solid mixture to be separated consists of
particles, inert insoluble carrier A and solute B. A solvent, C, is added to the mixture to
selectively dissolve B. The overflow from the stage is free of solids and consists of only
solvent C and dissolved B. The underflow consists of slurry of liquid of similar composition
in the liquid overflow and solid carrier A.

Examples of leaching are washing of soluble salt from the surface of an insoluble
precipitate, leaching of oil from soybeans, extraction of sugar from sugar beet, extraction
of tannic acid from bark, extraction of alginic acids from seaweed

Preparation of Solids for Leaching

The preparation of the solid depends upon

a) The proportion of the soluble constituent present.

b) The distribution of the soluble component throughout the solid.

c) The nature of the solid.

d) The original particle size.

Biological materials are cellular in structure and the soluble constituents are
generally found inside the cell.
Selection or Design of a Leaching Process

1. Process and Operating Conditions - The major parameters that must be fixed
or identified are the solvent to be used, the temperature, the terminal stream
compositions and quantities, leaching cycle (batch or continuous), contact method,
and specific extractor choice.

2. Temperature - The temperature of the extraction should be chosen for the best
balance of solubility, solvent-vapor pressure, solute diffusivity, solvent selectivity,
and sensitivity of product.

3. Choice of Solvent - The solvent selected will offer the best balance of a number
of desirable characteristics: high saturation limit and selectivity for the solute to be
extracted, capability to produce extracted material of quality unimpaired by the
solvent, chemical stability under process conditions, low viscosity, low vapor
pressure, low toxicity and flammability, low density, low surface tension, ease and
economy of recovery from the extract stream, and price.

4. Terminal Stream Compositions and Quantities - These are basically linked to

an arbitrary given: the production capacity of the leaching plant (rate of extract
production or rate of raw-material purification by extraction).

5. Leaching Cycle and Contact Method - As is true generally, the choice between
continuous and intermittent operation is largely a matter of the size and nature of
the process of which the extraction is a part.

6. Type of Reactor - The specific type of reactor that is most compatible (or least
incompatible) with the chosen combination of the preceding parameters seldom is
clearly and unequivocally perceived without difficulty, if at all.

7. Extractor-Sizing Calculations - For any given throughput rate (which fixes the
cross-sectional area and/or the number of extractors), the size of the units boils
down to the number of stages required, actual or equivalent.
Types of Equipment for Leaching
1. Fixed Bed Leaching

Batch Leaching Machine: Expresso Coffee Maker

2. Moving Bed Leaching

Bollman Extractor

Hildebrandt Screw-conveyor Extractor

Rotocel Extractor
D.D.S. Double-Screw, Slope Extractor

Continuous, Perforated-belt extractor

Leaching or Solid-Liquid Extraction

Dissolving of soluble materials from its mixture by means of liquid solvent with an
insoluble solid.

Factors affecting the extraction:

1. Temperature (↑T, ↑L)

2. Diffusion (↑D, ↑L)

3. Particle Size (↓PS, ↑L)

4. Agitation (↑A, ↑L)

5. Interfacial Area (↑IA, ↑L)

6. Solvent Viscosity (↓V, ↑L)

Other names of Leaching:

1. Solid-Liquid Extraction
2. Percolation
3. Lixiviation
4. Infusion
5. Washing
6. Decantation Settling

Types of Leaching
1. Variable Underflow
2. Constant Underflow

Constant Underflow

Number of stages

1. Rectangular Diagram

Mc Cabe Smith Method or Tiller Tour Equation

Since is constant, the slope of the operating line is constant. With a linear
operating line and in leaching, the equilibrium curve is always linear the number of ideal
stages may be determined using the ABSORPTION FACTOR METHOD or the TILLER
TOUR Equation.
 𝑋 −𝑌
log 1 2
𝑋1 − 𝑋𝑛
N–1= 𝑋1 − 𝑋𝑛
log𝑌 −
2 𝑌𝑛+1

Assumptions

• Solid B is insoluble in solvent

• No solid B in overflow

• Steady state operation

• Solid B in feed = Solid B in any underflow

• The characteristic of the adhering solution is the same as that of the strong
solution leaving a particular stage.

𝑋1 = 𝑌1

X 2 = Y2

X N = YN

2. Triangular Method

Cases:

1. Constant Solvent Retention

mass of solute
X1 , Y2 = mass of solvent ‫؞‬solvent balance

Retention = mass solvent retained / mass solid B

L1 ′ = L2 ′ = L3 ′ = ……. = LN ′ = L′

V2 ′ = V3 ′ = V4 ′ = ……. = VN+1 ′ = V′

y2 = L′/ V′ (x1 - xN ) + yN+1

 2. Constant Solution Retention

mass of solute
X1 , Y2 = mass of solution ‫؞‬
solution balance

Retention = mass solution retained / mass solid B

L1 = L2 = L3 = ……. = LN = L

V2 = V3 = V4 = ……. = VN+1 = V

y2 = L/ V (x1 - xN ) + yN+1