Presented here is the design and performance of a coalescing liquid–liquid filter, based on low-cost and readily available meltblown nonwoven substrates for separation of immiscible phases. The performance of the coalescer was determined across three broad classes of fluid mixtures: (i) immiscible organic/aqueous systems, (ii) a surfactant laden organic/aqueous system with modification of the type of emulsion and interfacial surface tension through the addition of sodium chloride, and (iii) a water–acetone/toluene system. The first two classes demonstrated good performance of the equipment in effecting separation, including the separation of a complex emulsion system for which a membrane separator, operating through transport of a preferentially wetting fluid through the membrane, failed entirely. The third system was used to demonstrate the performance of the separator within a multistage liquid–liquid counterflow extraction system. The performance, robust nature, and scalability of coalescing filters should mean that this approach is routinely considered for liquid–liquid separations and extractions within the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry.

中文翻译：

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用于连续流化学中液液分离和多级萃取的聚结过滤器

这里介绍的是聚结液-液过滤器的设计和性能，该过滤器基于低成本且易于获得的熔喷非织造基材，用于分离不混溶相。聚结器的性能取决于三大类流体混合物：(i) 不混溶的有机/水系统，(ii) 负载表面活性剂的有机/水系统，通过添加钠来改变乳液类型和界面表面张力氯化物，和（iii）水-丙酮/甲苯系统。前两类展示了设备在实现分离方面的良好性能，包括复杂乳液系统的分离，在该系统中，通过优先润湿流体输送通过膜进行操作的膜分离器完全失效。第三个系统用于演示多级液-液逆流萃取系统中分离器的性能。聚结过滤器的性能、坚固性和可扩展性意味着这种方法通常被考虑用于精细化工和制药行业的液液分离和萃取。