Thermostatically Jacketed Agitated Leaching Vessel
1.0 L glass vessel with Teflon paddle impeller operating at 300 RPM and 40.0 ± 0.2 °C.
Chemical & Process Engineering / Solid–Liquid Leaching Kinetics
FREE TO EXPLORELABORATORY 21 · CHEMICAL & PROCESS ENGINEERING
Solid–Liquid Leaching Kinetics & Crosscurrent Extraction Stage Efficiency
Study the crosscurrent batch leaching of soluble solute from a porous solid matrix using an organic solvent, measure residual solute concentration as a function of solvent-to-solid ratio S/F, and evaluate leaching solvation rate constant k and stage efficiency. Explore interactive transport phenomena, unit operations simulation, and chemical engineering telemetry.
TRANSPORT PHENOMENA · UNIT OPERATIONS · PROCESS CONTROL · REACTION ENGINEERING
Your virtual chemical and process engineering laboratory.
LOG RESIDUAL SOLUTE FRACTION LN(X_R)—
PROCESS & PILOT PLANT TELEMETRY
Ready to sample with Ratio S/F = 3.0 kg/kg.
Adjust Ratio S/F, then execute chemical process trial.
Chemical and process engineering telemetry is evaluated rigorously using 64-bit IEEE 754 precision. Residuals reflect ordinary least-squares regression across successive observations. Continuous data structures support high-fidelity transport phenomena and unit operations modeling.
Process engineering assumptions and boundary condition limits
The transport and thermodynamic models apply within the specified calibrated operating window (1.0 to 6.0 kg/kg). Evaluated using crushed oilseed meal (initial oil content x_0 = 20.0 wt%) leached with n-hexane at 40.0 °C. Linearized logarithmic model relates ln(x_R) to S/F to extract solvation rate constant k = 0.4200.
Process apparatus & industrial sensors.
Solvent Reflux Condenser & Nitrogen Purge
Recovers boiled solvent vapor and prevents air ingress into volatile organic extraction cell.
Rotary Vacuum Filter Nutsche
Rapidly separates pregnant miscella extract from underflow solid meal cake with minimal hold-up.
Rotary Evaporator (Rotovap) & Vacuum Pump
Evaporates hexane from extract samples to determine dissolved solute mass gravimetrically.
Analytical Laboratory Balance (0.1 mg precision)
Weighs initial dry solids, solvent charges, and recovered extracted oil fractions.
Soxhlet Extraction Reference Apparatus
Determines total exhaustively extractable initial oil content x_0 = 20.0 wt% for baseline normalization.
FOLLOW THE METHOD
A reason behind every step.
Study the crosscurrent batch leaching of soluble solute from a porous solid matrix using an organic solvent, measure residual solute concentration as a function of solvent-to-solid ratio S/F, and evaluate leaching solvation rate constant k and stage efficiency. Standardized parameter settings: 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 kg/kg.
01
Solid Meal Preparation & Moisture Check
Weigh 100.0 g of flaked oilseed meal (initial extractable oil x_0 = 20.0 wt%); verify moisture content < 8.0 wt%.
02
Extractor Thermostating & Inerting
Set jacket temperature to 40.0 °C; purge vessel headspace with nitrogen to eliminate oxygen.
03
Initial Solvent Charge & Leaching
Charge 100.0 g of pure n-hexane (S/F = 1.0 kg/kg) into the vessel; agitate at 300 RPM for 30 minutes to achieve dissolution equilibrium.
04
Phase Separation & Miscella Sampling
Filter slurry through the vacuum Nutsche; record underflow cake mass and evaporate miscella to gravimetrically determine extracted oil mass.
05
Solvent Ratio Stepping Protocol
Repeat leaching with fresh meal batches using cumulative solvent ratios of S/F = 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 kg/kg, logging residual solute fraction x_R.
06
Solvation Rate Constant Regression
Compute ln(x_R) for each run, plot ln(x_R) versus S/F, and fit a linear regression to extract rate constant k.
YOUR NOTEBOOK · 0 OBSERVATIONS
Turn measurements into chemical process engineering insight.
Points are your recorded observations. The solid regression line validates Solid–Liquid Leaching Kinetics mathematical scaling.
LINEAR REGRESSION FIT · y = mx + b
ln(x_R) = -k · (S/F) + c = -0.4200 · (S/F) - 0.1500
| # | Solvent-to-Solid Ratio S/F (kg/kg) | Log Residual Solute Fraction ln(x_R) (ln(ratio)) | Solvent-to-solid mass ratio S/F (kg/kg) | Log residual solute fraction ln(x_R) | Remove |
|---|
No readings yet. Execute a process trial and record it.
Calculate it yourself.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Explain what the process engineering metrics mean.
Leaching is defined as the separation of a soluble solute from:
The rate of leaching of biological materials is predominantly governed by:
In a crosscurrent leaching system, as the solvent-to-solid ratio S/F increases, the residual solute fraction in the solid:
In oilseed extraction, the mixture of dissolved oil and solvent is termed:
THEORY AND UNIT OPERATIONS CONTEXT
Process engineering background & physical principles.
Solid–liquid extraction (leaching) is a fundamental separation operation utilized in metallurgical hydrometallurgy (copper and gold cyanidation), food processing (oil extraction from soybeans, coffee and tea brewing, sucrose extraction from sugar beets), and pharmaceutical botanical drug extraction. In leaching, a liquid solvent contacts a porous solid matrix, dissolving soluble solute species and transferring them into the bulk liquid extract. Leaching mechanisms involve three sequential rate-limiting steps: (1) solvent penetration and dissolution of solute within internal pores, (2) molecular intra-particle diffusion of dissolved solute through tortuous fluid-filled pores to the solid surface, and (3) convective mass transfer across the external fluid boundary layer into the bulk solvent. When leaching is performed in crosscurrent stages with fresh solvent additions, the residual solute mass fraction remaining in the underflow solid matrix x_R decreases exponentially with cumulative solvent-to-solid mass ratio S/F: x_R = x_0 · exp[-k · (S/F)], where k is the characteristic solvation and washing rate constant. In this laboratory investigation, oil extraction from flaked oilseed meal using food-grade hexane solvent is studied in a benchtop jacketed stirred extractor across solvent-to-solid ratios from 1.0 to 6.0 kg/kg to measure residual solute fraction x_R and evaluate the solvation rate constant k.
ln(x_R) = -k · (S/F) + c = -0.4200 · (S/F) - 0.1500
Evaluated using crushed oilseed meal (initial oil content x_0 = 20.0 wt%) leached with n-hexane at 40.0 °C. Linearized logarithmic model relates ln(x_R) to S/F to extract solvation rate constant k = 0.4200.