WATER PURIFICATION BY EXTRACTION USING MOBILE LIQUID MEMBRANES

摘要

Water circulating through a bath (B) is purified by a mobile liquid membrane (LM) provided by injecting a hydrophobic solvent at the bottom of a hydrophobic diaphragm (HD) so that it flows upwards in contact with the bath and the diaphragm to form a buoyant hydrophobic layer (HL). An electric field is applied in the cell (EC) to break down the water and cause ion migration and polarisation of the movable liquid membrane so that it operates as a liquid bipolar electrode. The various impurities are separated out and removed via the mobile liquid membrane (LM) and the hydrophobic layer (HL). Said hydrophobic solvent includes a chelating agent for promoting removal of the impurities. The method is particularly suitable for the fine purification of water containing a variety of known or unknown impurities.