A METHOD OF SOLVENT EXTRACTION AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

摘要

In a solvent extraction method a contactor comprises a forward extraction (FX) section comprising sub-sections 10A, 10B and a back extraction (BX) section comprising sub-sections 12A, 12B. To enable higher concentrations of solute to be obtained in the aqueous backwash liquor, the contactor is operated with recycle of partially-loaded solvent, via line 40, from the BX sub-sections to the FX sub-sections.