Liquid–liquid extraction, also known as solvent extraction, is a well established separation technique that depends on the unequal distribution of a solute between two immiscible liquids.The physics, chemistry, and practice of extraction, are described and important industrial extraction processes and equipment are reviewed, including petroleum and petrochemical processes, pharmaceutical processes, food processing, nuclear fuel reprocessing, and extraction of metallic and nonmetallic compounds. Research on hydrodynamic aspects of process design, eg, axial mixing, drop dispersion, and coalescence, is also discussed.
