5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept.
of Chemical Engineering
MODULE III
LEACHING OPERATION
Leaching is the process of separation of soluble constituents of a solid material using a suitable
solvent.
Over flow/leach solution
(solvent + solute)
SOLID MIXTURE
Under flow/Leached
(Inert solid + soluble LEACHING
solids (inert solid +
solute)
adhering solution)
SOLVENT
• This operation is also called as solid-liquid extraction or simply solid extraction.
• In leaching, a solid phase contacts a liquid phase, and mass is transferred from the solid
phase to the liquid phase.
• This operation comprises of two steps:
1. contacting the solid with the liquid phase to effect transfer of solute to solvent and
2. separation of the liquid phase from the solid by settling or filtration (mechanical
separation)
The streams resulting from the second step are: a solution of solute in solvent, which is called as
the overflow/strong leach solution and a mixture of insoluble solid/residue and adhering solution
- which is called as the underflow or leached solids. The amount of the solution adhering to the
solid generally depends upon the time provided for settling.
Applications of leaching:
1. Recovery of minerals in metallurgical industries
2. Extraction of natural organic products
An every day example of leaching is making tea/coffee is which case the soluble constituents of
the ground coffee are separated from the insoluble grounds by solution in water.
Examples of leaching operation are:
(i) Leaching of gold from its ores by using sodium cyanide solutions.
(ii) Extraction of oil from oilseeds such as soyabeans by using hexane or petroleum
ether as a solvent.
(iii) Extraction of sugar from sugar beets using hot water.
(iv) Extraction of tannin from tree barks using water.
(v) Extraction of medicinal compounds (fine pharmaceuticals) from plant roots leaves and
stems (in the pharmaceutical industry).
(vi) Extraction of perfumes from flowers.
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Factors affecting solid liquid extraction
1. Particle size and preparation of feed
For smaller particles, the interfacial area between the solid and the liquid is greater and
therefore the rate of mass transfer is high. When the rate is controlled by the diffusion of the
solute through the porous structure of the solid. The material should be small in size so that the
diffusion path is small. But the particle size should not be too small, otherwise the separation
of the solid from the liquid and drainage of the solid residue will become more difficult.
In the preparation of feed for leaching it is important to consider the nature of feed material
being leached. Whether the solid is of inorganic in origin or of vegetable origin, the portion
of soluble constituents present, its distribution in solids and original particle size. Crushing
and grinding(ores), slicing( sugar beets), flaking(vegetable seeds and beans..)
2. Solvent
The solvent chosen should be selective and should offer high solubility towards the
components to be leached to minimize the solvent needed. Viscosity should be low in order
that the solvent be circulated freely through the leaching equipment. The solvent selected
should be capable of producing an extract unimpaired by the presence of the solvent and
should be chemically stable under the process conditions. Low vapour pressure. ease and
economy of recovery from the extracted solution, low density, low surface tension and low
toxicity and flammability are other desirable characteristics of good leaching solvent.
3. Temperature
Higher the temperature, the greater will be the rate of leaching because of two reasons. First,
the solubility of the solute is high at higher temperature so that the driving force for mass
transfer is high. Secondly the diffusivity of the solute is increased and viscosity of the solvent
is lowered with rise in temperature. The upper limit for temperature depends on the
deterioration of the constituents present in the solid.
4. Agitation
Agitation of the fluid helps in increasing the rate of leaching. it prevents in the sedimentation
of the solids and provides new interfacial area available for leaching operation.
Classification of leaching methods
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
FIXED BED PERCOLATION EQUIPMENT’S
1. HEAP LEACHING
Heap 1eaching is a process where the solid is in a stationary heap and the solvent percolates
through the solid. It is widely applied for the recovery of copper and precious metals such as
gold from their ores. Heap leaching is the least expensive method of leaching. The heap is
constructed on impervious polymeric membrane as shown in Fig.
In leaching of gold from low-grade oxidised gold ores, the heap is made of ore crushed into
small chunks. The heap can also be made of from the fine powder produced by crushing of the
ore. The solvent for leaching is distributed over the heap and it percolates through the material.
Dilute alkaline solution of sodium cyanide is used for gold extraction, which is sprayed over the
heap through solution drippers or sprayers in the figure. The solution containing gold-cyanide
complex is collected in ‘pregnant pond’. The solution is recycled back to the top of the heap
after the gold is recovered from it.
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
2. SHANK SYSTEM OR EXTRACTION BATTERY:
They are formed by interconnecting fixed bed extractors in series. Consider a series of tanks
containing solids. Let one tank (tank 4) which contains solids which has undergone almost
complete leaching, is isolated and emptied for refilling. Of the remaining three tanks, tank 3 is
the one that is most recently charged with solids and therefore contains fresh solids. Tank 1
contains solids that have been subjected to leaching for more number of times. Fresh solvent is
admitted to tank 1 which percolates through the bed. The extract solution is then pumped to
tank 2 and then to tank 3. At the end the tank 1 is taken off for removing solids and for refilling.
Now fresh solvent is admitted to tank 2 is percolated through the tank and then pumped to tank
3 then to tank 4 containing fresh solids. The final extract is withdrawn from tank 4.
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
MOVING BED PERCOLATION EQUIPMENTS
1. BOLL MAN EXTRACTOR
Boll man extractor is a vertical basket type extractor used for leaching oils from seeds. Extractors
are typically of height 14 m and which can handle about 2000 to 20000 kg/h of flaky solids are
used for this purpose. Baskets with perforated bottoms are attached to a chain conveyor which
moves in the vertical direction. The baskets receive fresh solids feed from the top and begins their
descending motion. A partially enriched solvent known as half- miscella is introduced into the
baskets. The half-miscella is pumped from the bottom of the column of ascending buckets shown
on the left side of figure. The solution percolates through the bed of solids and drains to the basket
below achieving parallel flow of the contacting phases during the downward movement of the
baskets. The strong solution of oil in the solvent known as full miscella is collected at the bottom
of the extractor and is removed.
During the upward movement of the baskets the solids come in contact with fresh solvent
admitted at the top. Thus a counter current- contact between the solid and the solvent is achieved
during the ascending motion of the solids. The weak oil-solvent solution collected at the left-
hand sump is recycled as ha1f-miscelIa as explained earlier. A short drainage time is provided
before the baskets are emptied and the solids are dumped at the top and the spent solids are
carried away by means of paddle conveyors. Thin flakes are to be used in Bollman extractors as
there is no agitation of the solids..
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
2. ROTOCEL
Rotocel extractor is also called Carousal extractor is a moving bed percolation type
continuous multistage equipment with counter current Operation under the Shanks system.
The Rotocel consists of a circular rotor slowly revolving above a stationary compartmented
tank. The rotor is divided into a number of walled annular compartments called cells, the
unit depicted schematically in Fig. contains 18 such cells.
The cell hold the solids and allow the drainage of the liquid through the perforated bottoms. As
the rotor revolves, each cell passes successively through the solid feed area, a series of solvent
sprays, a final spray and a solids discharge area. After completing nearly one revolution, the
contents of the each cell are drained and automatically dumped into one of the compartments
of the static tank from where they are continuously conveyed away. The empty cells move to
the feed location to receive the next load of solids. Fresh solvent is supplied just ahead of the
drainage and the discharge area. The solvent from each Spray percolates through the bed and
are drained to specific compartments in the bottom of the tank through the perforations on the
supporting screen. The solvent-oil solution from these compartment is pumped to the cell
preceding the cell from which they are withdrawn. A true counter current operation is realized
in this manner and the strong solution is withdrawn off from the compartment under freshest
solids and is taken for solvent recovery.
The rotocel can handle flaked seeds and beans. Typical units have diameter from 3.4 to 11.3
m , height 6.4 – 7.3 m with bed depth of about 1.8 to 3 m.
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering
3. KENNEDY EXTRACTOR:
The Kennedy extractor is another percolation equipment with the bed of solid moving solids
through the solvent. A series of chambers or tubs are arranged as shown and the solids to be
leached are transported in succession from chamber to chamber by slow impellers. The
perforations provided in the impellers facilitate drainage of the solution from the bed of solids
emerging from the solution. When the impeller lift the solids above the liquid level each
impeller is scraped to disengage the solids which are then dumped in to the adjacent chamber
on the right as shown in the figure. Since the solvent is introduced at the upper end of the
extractor a perfect counter current contact is achieved. Since the solids are subjected to
mechanical action some what more severe than other type of percolators the Kennedy extractor
is not used for the extraction of flaked oil seeds. The kennedy extractor requires less space and
was originally used for the extraction of tannin from wood bark.
IMMERSION TYPE CONTINUOUS EXTRACTOR
1. CONTINUOUS COUNTER CURRENT DECANTATION SYSTEM.
when an appreciable amount of solution is still associated with the residual solids after
separation it is generally desirable to pass it through a battery of washers, arranged to give
countercurrent flow of solids and the solvent. Classifiers are used when relatively coarse solids
are to be washed and thickeners are used when fine solids are to be treated. The gravity
thickeners or hydroclones can be interconnected to form a continuous countercurrent decanter
cascade (CCD). Countercurrent washing of the solids to reduce the solute content in the liquid
adhering to the solids, is a common practice in industries.
The feed solids are admitted to the first thickener along with clear supernatant solution drawn
off from tank 2. Thorough mixing of the solids and the solution, followed by separation of the
thickened sludge from the bottom of the tank and clear supernatant liquid from the top of the
tank(product- concentrated solution). The tank 2 recieves the sludge from tank 1 and overflow
from tank 3 . fresh solvent is a admitted in the last tank.
5071 MTO II Lecture notes Dept. of Chemical Engineering