Modeling of the Recovery of Citric Acid Using Aliquat 336 in Natural Diluents

Reactive extraction of citric acid was studied using Aliquat 336 in various natural diluents. Distribution data was presented and compared with two modeling approaches: mass action law modeling and, differential evolution approach. Equilibrium complexation constants and stoichiometric association were obtained by the mass action law modeling. The extraction efficiency of the diluents follows the trend: soya-bean oil greater than sun-flower oil greater than sesame oil greater than rice bran oil. Different evolution approach was solved by program build up in Matlab and stoichiometry of association and complexation were evaluated for each data point. KDexperimental and KDmodel were compared and model was found to fit the data significantly well.