Optimization of Y and T-shaped microchannels for liquid–liquid extraction

Abstract

Solvent extraction on a micro-scale has received much attention due to its advantages in recent years. The purpose of this research is to compare the inlet geometry of T and Y-shaped microchannels. In this research, solvent extraction of Crystal Violet (CV) was investigated using Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) extractor and hexane solvent in Y and T-shaped microchannels with lengths of 4, 6, and 8 cm. The effect of parameters such as inlet geometry, length of microchannels (4–8 cm), dye solution pH (3–11), flow rate (1–1.5 mL/h) and the concentration of CV (25–75 ppm) was investigated. The Results showed that under the same conditions, Y-shaped microchannel performance is better than T-shaped microchannel. pH of dye solution phase, flow rate, inlet CV concentration, and microchannel length were obtained as optimal conditions for extraction, 10.9, 1.1 mL/h, 46.4 ppm, and 7.6 cm, respectively, and the amount of extraction, in this case, was % 97/96 was obtained.