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Liquid-Liquid and Solid-Liquid

Extractors 1st Edition Jean-Paul


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Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors
There are no such things as applied sciences,
only applications of science.
Louis Pasteur (11 September 1871)

Dedicated to my wife, Anne, without whose unwavering support, none of this


would have been possible.
Industrial Equipment for Chemical Engineering Set
coordinated by
Jean-Paul Duroudier

Liquid–Liquid and
Solid–Liquid Extractors

Jean-Paul Duroudier
First published 2016 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Press Ltd and Elsevier Ltd

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced,
stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers,
or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the
undermentioned address:

ISTE Press Ltd Elsevier Ltd


27-37 St George’s Road The Boulevard, Langford Lane
London SW19 4EU Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB
UK UK
www.iste.co.uk www.elsevier.com

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment
may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and
using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information
or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for
whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any
liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence
or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in
the material herein.

For information on all our publications visit our website at http://store.elsevier.com/

© ISTE Press Ltd 2016


The rights of Jean-Paul Duroudier to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data


A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-1-78548-178-9

Printed and bound in the UK and US


Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Chapter 1. General Theory of


Liquid–Liquid Extractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Extraction by successive stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1. Feasibility of extraction (study using
the ternary diagram) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2. Computer-based calculation of the
solvent–raffinate equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.3. Multi-stage countercurrent extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4. Minimum quantity of solvent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5. Study using the distribution curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.6. Aptitude of the system (solvent +
product) for extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.2. Mixers-settlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.1. The operation of mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.2. Separation of the two phases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.3. Calculation for settlers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3. Equation of concentrations for
differential extractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.1. Principle of differential extractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.2. Balance of an elementary slice of
the extractor with no backmixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3.3. Axial dispersion (backmixing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3.4. Boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
vi Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

1.3.5. Overall balance of a component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19


1.3.6. Calculation procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4. Transfer parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.1. Mean velocities in an empty bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.2. Mean drop diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.3. Equivalence of d32 and the
mean harmonic diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.4.4. Interfacial area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.4.5. Transfer coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.4.6. Coalescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.4.7. Marangoni effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.4.8. Slip velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.4.9. Flowrates on flooding (approximate method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.5. Dispersed phase feeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.5.1. Influence of the feeder on the
effectiveness of the transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.5.2. Proposed design for the feeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.5.3. Velocity through the holes in the distributor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.5.4. Aperture of the distributor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
1.5.5. Step between the holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.6. Conclusion – pilot studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.6.1. Advantages and disadvantages of
different types of extractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.6.2. Equivalence of devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.6.3. Choice of the dispersed phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.6.4. Use of pilots in liquid–liquid extraction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.6.5. Additional reasons to use a pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 2. Three Examples of Calculation


for a Differential Liquid–Liquid Extractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.1. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.1.1. Interfacial tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.1.2. Physical properties and notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.2. Packed columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.1. Constraints on the nominal size of the packing . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2.2. Flooding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.2.3. Retention of dispersed phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.2.4. Mean drop diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.2.5. Slip velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.2.6. Transfer coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.2.7. Axial dispersion coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Contents vii

2.3. Rotating-disc contactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50


2.3.1 Presentation and advantage of the device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3.2. Definition of the rotating-disc contactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.3.3. Design standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.3.4. Rotation speed of the pilot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.3.5. Gravimetric agitation power (pilot) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.3.6. Mean drop diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.3.7. Hold-up on flooding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.3.8. Diameter of the extractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.3.9. Hold-up of dispersed phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.3.10. Speed of rotation for the industrial device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.3.11. Axial dispersion coefficients (dispersivities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.3.12. Transfer coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.4. Pulsed column with perforated plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.4.1. Structure of the device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.4.2. Operating regimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.4.3. Advantage of pulsed columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.4.4. Determination of the pulsation parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
2.4.5. Agitation power density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.6. Flooding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.4.7. Mean drop diameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4.8. Hold-up of the dispersed phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.4.9. Slip velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4.10. Transfer coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4.11. Axial dispersion (contiguous phase) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4.12. Axial dispersion (dispersed phase) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Chapter 3. Equilibrium and Material Transfer


Between a Fluid and a Divided Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
3.2. Choice of adsorbents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.2.1. General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.2.2. Activated charcoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.2.3. Silica gel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.2.4. Activated alumina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.2.5. Activated earths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.2.6. Ion exchangers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.2.7. Zeolites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.3. The different types of isotherms of
fluid–solid equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
3.3.1. The Freundlich isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
viii Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

3.3.2. Langmuir–Freundlich combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78


3.3.3. The Langmuir isotherm (thermodynamic
approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.3.4. The Langmuir isotherm (dynamic
equilibrium) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.3.5. Generalization to multiple components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.3.6. Generalization to a heterogeneous
surface (bi-Langmuir isotherm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.3.7. Langmuir equation for liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.3.8. “Competitive” isotherm found by
Gritti and Guiochon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.3.9. Tóth isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3.10. Moreau isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3.11. Martire isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.3.12. BET (Brunauer, Emmett and
Teller) isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.3.13. Ion exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.3.14. Generalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.3.15. The five main types of isotherms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.4. Thermodynamics and equilibrium of
multiple adsorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.4.1. Posing of the problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.4.2. Spreading pressure – Gibbs equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.4.3. Surface energy and surface tension
of liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.4.4. Surface tension and spreading pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.4.5. Gibbs equation and tensioactives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.4.6. Calculation of the spreading
pressure on a solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.4.7. Padé approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4.8. Equilibrium equations; composition
of the adsorbate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.4.9. Calculating the molar sum of the
adsorbed species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.4.10. Comparison with the Raoult laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.4.11. Fick’s laws and activity coefficient: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.4.12. Calculation of γs with a linear isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.4.13. Calculation of γs with the Langmuir isotherm . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.4.14. Isosteric heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.5. Transfer parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.5.1. Transfer through the liquid film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
3.5.2. Expression of the Knudsen diffusivity in a pore . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Contents ix

3.5.3. Overall pore diffusivity in a porous medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102


3.5.4. Surface diffusivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.5.5. Diffusion in pellets (or tablets or indeed spheroids) . . . . . . . . . 103
3.5.6. Differential equation internal to solid particles . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.5.7. Fluid–solid exchange equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.5.8. Simplified fluid–particle exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.6. Adsorption between a mass of liquid and a mass of solid . . . . . . . . . 107
3.6.1. A simple situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.6.2. The volume of liquid is limited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.6.3. Integration of the resistance of the liquid film . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.6.4. The isotherm is not linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
3.6.5. Bi-dispersed porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Chapter 4. Liquid–Solid Extraction and


Washing of a Divided Solid by a Liquid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.1. Fundaments of extraction and liquid–solid washing . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.1.1. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.1.2. Measuring the total soluble and the
extractible soluble products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.1.3. Accessible porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.1.4. Equilibrium coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.1.5. Shape and dimension of particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.1.6. Global transfer coefficient in chromatography . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
4.1.7. Equivalence between chromatography
and saturation of a fixed bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.1.8. Number of transfer units on the side of the extract . . . . . . . . . . 122
4.1.9. Extractors and washers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.2. Hydrodynamics of percolation continuous extractors . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.2.1. Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.2.2. Flooding rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.3. Performances of continuous percolation extractors . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.3.1. Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.3.2. Number of transfer units; transfer equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.4. Diffusion batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.4.1. Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.4.2. Spaninks and Bruin’s method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
4.5. Washing of ores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.5.1. Concentrations and gravimetric fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.5.2. Graphical determination of a number
of stages of washing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
x Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Preface

The observation is often made that, in creating a chemical installation, the


time spent on the recipient where the reaction takes place (the reactor)
accounts for no more than 5% of the total time spent on the project. This
series of books deals with the remaining 95% (with the exception of oil-fired
furnaces).

It is conceivable that humans will never understand all the truths of the
world. What is certain, though, is that we can and indeed must understand
what we and other humans have done and created, and, in particular, the
tools we have designed.

Even two thousand years ago, the saying existed: “faber fit fabricando”,
which, loosely translated, means: “c’est en forgeant que l’on devient
forgeron” (a popular French adage: one becomes a smith by smithing), or,
still more freely translated into English, “practice makes perfect”. The
“artisan” (faber) of the 21st Century is really the engineer who devises or
describes models of thought. It is precisely that which this series of books
investigates, the author having long combined industrial practice and
reflection about world research.

Scientific and technical research in the 20th Century was characterized by


a veritable explosion of results. Undeniably, some of the techniques
discussed herein date back a very long way (for instance, the mixture of
water and ethanol has been being distilled for over a millennium). Today,
though, computers are needed to simulate the operation of the atmospheric
distillation column of an oil refinery. The laws used may be simple statistical
xii Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

correlations but, sometimes, simple reasoning is enough to account for a


phenomenon.

Since our very beginnings on this planet, humans have had to deal with
the four primordial “elements” as they were known in the ancient world:
earth, water, air and fire (and a fifth: aether). Today, we speak of gases,
liquids, minerals and vegetables, and finally energy.
The unit operation expressing the behavior of matter are described in
thirteen volumes.
It would be pointless, as popular wisdom has it, to try to “reinvent the
wheel” – i.e. go through prior results. Indeed, we well know that all human
reflection is based on memory, and it has been said for centuries that every
generation is standing on the shoulders of the previous one.

Therefore, exploiting numerous references taken from all over the world,
this series of books describes the operation, the advantages, the drawbacks
and, especially, the choices needing to be made for the various pieces of
equipment used in tens of elementary operations in industry. It presents
simple calculations but also sophisticated logics which will help businesses
avoid lengthy and costly testing and trial-and-error.

Herein, readers will find the methods needed for the understanding the
machinery, even if, sometimes, we must not shy away from complicated
calculations. Fortunately, engineers are trained in computer science, and
highly-accurate machines are available on the market, which enables the
operator or designer to, themselves, build the programs they need. Indeed,
we have to be careful in using commercial programs with obscure internal
logic which are not necessarily well suited to the problem at hand.

The copies of all the publications used in this book were provided by the
Institut National d’Information Scientifique et Technique at Vandœuvre-lès-
Nancy.

The books published in France can be consulted at the Bibliothèque


Nationale de France; those from elsewhere are available at the British
Library in London.

In the in-chapter bibliographies, the name of the author is specified so as


to give each researcher his/her due. By consulting these works, readers may
Preface xiii

gain more in-depth knowledge about each subject if he/she so desires. In a


reflection of today’s multilingual world, the references to which this series
points are in German, French and English.

The problems of optimization of costs have not been touched upon.


However, when armed with a good knowledge of the devices’ operating
parameters, there is no problem with using the method of steepest descent so
as to minimize the sum of the investment and operating expenditure.
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1

General Theory of
Liquid–Liquid Extractors

1.1. Extraction by successive stages

1.1.1. Feasibility of extraction (study using the ternary diagram)

If we have the ternary diagram available to us, we can determine the


quantity of solvent S needed to obtain a given extract and raffinate (linked
by a tie line); see Figure 1.1.

Suppose we have taken the mass of the feed F and its composition
( zT and zP , where zT + zP = 1 ).

In Figure 1.1, the lines RE and FS intersect at M, where the composition


can be read from the diagram (the mi values). We write that M is the
barycenter (center of mass, which gives us the name “system of barycentric
coordinates”) of F and S:

M = F +S
* * *

so: (F + S)m = Fz + Sy

m, z, y, x: molar fractions of the chosen component in M *, F*, S* and R *


or indeed:
(m − z)
S=F
(y − m)
2 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The calculation is subject to the following constraints:


– limiting quantities of solvent. The line SF intersects the isotherm of
solubility at Emax and R min , which correspond respectively to the
maximum and minimum of the solvent. The only interesting region of the
line is within the interval ( Emax , R min ), in which the point M must fall. By
successively placing the point M at Emax and R min , it is easy to calculate
Smax and Smin ;
– limiting composition of the feed. The line SF’, which is a tangent to the
solubility curve issuing from S, defines the point F' – i.e. the maximum
concentration of solute T for there to be demixing.

Figure 1.1. Liquid–liquid equilibrium

1.1.2. Computer-based calculation of the solvent–raffinate


equilibrium

Refer to the discussion in section 2.3.


General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 3

1.1.3. Multi-stage countercurrent extraction

Figure 1.2 shows the circulation of the fluids between the stages:

Figure 1.2. Countercurrent stages

The geometric construction which we shall now describe is indicated in


Figure 1.3.

The overall balance of the device is written:

F* + S* = E1* + R*k = M* (M: “additive” point)


With this balance, if we know three of the four mixtures, we can
determine the fourth. We can also write:

F − E1 = R k − S = O (O: “subtractive” point)


* * * * *

The point O is the pole of the construction.

Indeed, we can establish the balance:

F* + E*j+1 = E1* + R *j

so:
*
O * = F* − E *i = R *j − E
j+1

Thus, the points O, R j and E j+1 are aligned.

Starting at E1 :

– the equilibrium gives R1 ;

– the pole O gives E2 ;


4 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

– the equilibrium gives R 2 ;

– the pole O gives E3 ;

and so on.

Figure 1.3. Construction with the ternary diagram

We can calculate the masses of extract and raffinate at each step.

R j−1 + E j+1 = R j + E j

Balance for the transferred solute:

R j−1 x j−1 + E j+1 y j+1 = R j x j + E j y j

By eliminating E j+1 , we find:

R j−1 (x j−1 − y j+1 ) + E j (y j+1 − y j )


Rj =
x j − y j+1

In addition:

E j+1 = R j + E1 − F
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 5

1.1.4. Minimum quantity of solvent

It is clear in Figure 1.3 that if a tie line passes through the pole 0, the
above construction is unable to cross that line, and an infinite number of
stages would be needed to reach it. This situation is known in distillation,
and is called “pinching”.

Thus, we must avoid choosing R k such that the line SR k coincides with
a tie line. Indeed, in this case, there would be pinching at the end of the
installation where the solvent is introduced.

Remember that we have:


R *k = S* + O*

In other words, R k is the barycenter of S and O. Thus, the further away


point O is from R k , the greater will be the quantity of solvent used.

From the above, we can deduce the method for finding the minimum
quantity of solvent to be used: to do so, we extend the line segment R kS on
both sides. We also extend the tie lines E j R j until their intersection O j
with the line R kS . The point O which is furthest away from R k corresponds
to the minimum quantity of solvent to be used.

1.1.5. Study using the distribution curve

The balance of solute surrounding the feed-in end of stage j is written


(see figure):

Rz + Ey j+1 = Rx j + Ey1

or indeed:

Rx j + Ey j+1 = Rz − Ey1 = Rx k
6 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

This equation linking y j+1 to x j defines the operating line. It is supposed


that:

R = F = const. and E = S = const.

yi

yk
x
xk x1 x

Figure 1.4. Construction with the distribution curve

1.1.6. Aptitude of the system (solvent + product) for extraction

Extraction is easier when:


1) for a molar fraction x in the residue of the product being transferred,
the molar fraction y in the extract at equilibrium with x is high. Therefore,
we need to maximize the sharing coefficient m, defined by:
dy
m=
dx
2) for a given flowrate QR of raffinate, the flowrate Q E of extract will
be high. This is the same as maximizing:
QE Q R = U E U R
UE and UR are the velocities in an empty bed of the extract and raffinate.

The “aptitude” of the system (solvent + product) combines these two


parameters:
UE
A=m
UR
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 7

In the theory of transfer unit heights, we could also use what we refer to
as the “inaptitude” I of the system:

1 1 UR
I= =
A m UE

1.2. Mixers-settlers

1.2.1. The operation of mixing

There have been numerous attempts to calculate, a priori, the


effectiveness of a stage of mixing, but that effectiveness varies between 0.85
and 0.95, and only pilot testing on a 1/5 or 1/10 scale can help predict the
behavior of the cascade.

Very often, the necessary lengths of stay in the mixer are less than one
minute. Therefore, the cost of the installation will depend, above all, on the
size of the decanters. Therefore, it is pointless to aim for violent agitation,
which leads us to adopt:
– either the marine propeller;
– or the runner.

In a pilot test, we would examine, more specifically:


– the influence of the length of stay, i.e. of the flowrates, on the
effectiveness and on the decantation;
– the homogeneity of the mixture, by taking samples from various places
in the mixer.

For this purpose, we define a mixing index by the relation:

φ
Im =
QD (QD + QC )

φ : retention of dispersed phase;

QD and QC : volumetric flowrates of the dispersed phase and the


continuous phase.
8 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

We try to ensure that the dispersion is perfect, meaning that Im , which is


always less than 1, comes close to this upper limit.

Note that the pilot must work on industrial products, because the effect of
impurities is unpredictable.

1.2.2. Separation of the two phases

Depending on the products present, the coalescence of the dispersed


phase can be achieved in two different ways:
– drop–drop coalescence,
– drop–interface coalescence.

In the former case, we need to use narrow, deep decanters.

In the latter case, we choose a flat decanter with a large horizontal surface
area.

In solvent-based extraction, it is the second case which arises.

When a drop approaches the interface, a thin film of continuous phase


separates it from the interface.

This film becomes thinner and eventually ruptures. The process is quicker
when the viscosity of the continuous phase is lower.

Figure 1.5. Drop–interface coalescence

We then obtain forms 2 and 3. The height of the cylinder remains


constant, although its diameter decreases. Beyond a certain limit, the
cylinder becomes unstable and shrinks to a point of its height, which releases
a small secondary drop marked 4 in Figure 1.5.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 9

In the case that the interfacial tension is low and the primary drop is
large, it is not one but several secondary drops which are ejected.

If the primary drop embeds itself in the interface by less than 0.2 times its
own diameter d, it coalesces by simple drainage.

If the embedding surpasses 0.26 d, we see the ejection of the secondary


drop.

1.2.3. Calculation for settlers

An a priori calculation of the surface of a decanter would be illusory,


which is why pilot tests are necessary.

Considerations similar to those developed for gravity-based liquid–solid


settlers yield a simple relation between the surface Σ of the settler and the
flowrate of the feed QA .

Σ = QA V (V: decantation rate)

The variable is the settling rate and, to enable the two phases to calm
before they are withdrawn, it is taken as being equal to half the rate
measured in a test tube.

In general, the length of stay in a settler is between 1 and 3 minutes. In a


mixer-settler, 70% of the floor surface is occupied by the decanter and 30%
by the mixer. The length of stay in the mixer is around a minute.

Practically, the principle of a settler is illustrated in Figure 1.6. In general,


we find the level Z1 of withdrawal of the light fraction by overflow and
impose the level Z3 of the interface. From this, we can deduce the overflow
level Z2 of the heavy fraction. If ρL and ρl are the densities of the heavy
fraction and the light fraction, let us write the expression of the driving
pressure ρL Z2 g .
10 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

ρ Z Z Z ρl + ∆Pl + Z ρ + ∆P
g g

Height of light fraction ΔP of light fraction Height of heavy ΔP of heavy


in the pipe fraction fraction in the
pipe

Figure 1.6. Levels in the decanter

The emulsion is input against a deflector so as not to disturb the calm


which must be preserved in the settler.

Of course, whilst the static decanter is very widely used, it is still


possible, sometimes, to use a hydrocyclone or even a centrifuge.

The phenomenon of settling plays a part in the choice of the contiguous


phase by way of:
– the settling rate;
– the tendency to form a stable emulsion;
– the entrainment.

Entrainment generally takes place by imprisonment, within the droplets,


or small sacs of the contiguous phase.

We may also see the formation of fouling at the interfaces of decanters.


These phenomena are significant for the terminal stages of cascades.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 11

1.3. Equation of concentrations for differential extractors

1.3.1. Principle of differential extractors

Instead of taking place in a series of distinct stages, differential extraction


takes place in a vertical device where the surface of contact between the
raffinate and the extract is distributed across the whole height of the device.

One of the two liquid phases is dispersed as drops which, themselves, are
bathed in the contiguous phase. Later on, we shall see the criteria that govern
the choice of a liquid for a given phase.

Figure 1.7. Lightweight dispersed phase (the drops rise)


12 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

Inlet of the
dispersed phase

Event

Outlet of the
contiguous phase

Outlet of the
dispersed phase

Interface

Inlet of the
continuous phase

Figure 1.8. Dispersed heavy phase (the drops descend)

By adjusting the level of the gooseneck for withdrawal of the heavy


phase, we can vary the position of the interface at will, and set it to the
correct position.

The light phase flows by an overflow pipe.

1.3.2. Balance of an elementary slice of the extractor with no


backmixing

The slice with index k is between the sections k − 1 and k. The flux
densities Ni are orientated positively for a transfer from the phase R
(raffinate or residue) to the phase E (extract). The index k grows in the
direction of progression of the extract.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 13

The molar quantity of component i transferred in the slice k is:

w k,i = Nk,i a e ΔV

Nk,i : flux density: kmol.m−2 .s−1 ;

a e : volumetric area for the transfer: m−1;

3
ΔV : volume of the slice k: m .

The total transferred quantity is:

Wk = ∑ w k,i Wk > 0
i

Thus, we have the following molar flowrates on exit from the slice k:

E k ,i
Ek = Ek −1 + Wk with y k ,i =
Ek

R k ,i
R k = R k −1 + Wk with x k ,i =
Rk

The + sign in this last equation is justified because the index k increases
in the opposite direction to the progression of the liquid R. The index k
increases as we move from the poorer end to the richer end in terms of
solute.

NOTE.–

We can write:

QR dck,i,R = w k,i = Nk,i a e AC dz

The c values are the concentrations ( kmol.m −3 ).

QR and Q E are the volume flowrates ( m3 .s −1 ).


14 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

Let us set:

UR = QR AC (and UE = QE AC )
Thus:
dc k ,i,R N k ,i a e dc k,i,E N k ,i a e
= and, similarly, =
dz UR dz UE

1.3.3. Axial dispersion (backmixing)

Axial dispersion, which is commonly known as backmixing, tends to


homogenize the two phases along the length of the device. In some cases, the
device may be equivalent to a single extraction stage. In practice,
backmixing is a crucial factor to take into consideration in the simulation of
a differential extractor.

In general, backmixing is more intense in the continuous phase, because


the drops carry a certain volume of that phase along with them in their wake
and, more generally, the continuous phase is disturbed by the dispersed
phase.

Axial dispersion is characterized by a parameter DA , which has the


dimensions of a diffusivity (m2.s-1), and is known as the “diffusivity of
backmixing” or, more often, “axial dispersion coefficient” – i.e. dispersivity.

To account for backmixing, numerous authors propose to use a Péclet


number that is invariable along the extractor. For the phase X:

LU x
Pé =
Dx

In this expression, the length L is a characteristic dimension of the device


used, and is therefore constant along the length of the extractor. It is
therefore acceptable to use a constant value for the ratio Ux Dx . The
problem, then, is one of choosing the right value for the velocity in an empty
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 15

bed U x . We propose to take, for U x , an arithmetic mean between the


extremities of the extractor.

1
Ux =
2
( Ux input + Ux output )
The dispersivity D x results from correlations which we shall use in the
three examples of calculations for extractors, given in Chapter 2.

Backmixing hinders the transfer by decreasing the molar concentration


cR,i in the phase R and increasing the molar concentration c E,i in the phase
E. This is equivalent to decreasing the gap (μ R,i − μE,i ) between the
chemical potentials:
D R dc R ,i D E dc E,i
c R ,i = c*R ,i − and c E,i = c*E,i + [1.1]
U R dz U E dz

The differentials are positive because we are moving (increasing z) from


the poorer end toward the richer end. More specifically, we know that:

dc*R ,i a e Ni dc*E,i a e Ni
= = [1.2]
dz UR dz UE

The asterisk characterizes the transfer without backmixing.

To eliminate c*R ,i and c *E ,i , let us differentiate equations [1.1] with


respect to z and use equations [1.2]. We find:
2 2
dc R ,i a e N i D R d c R ,i dc E,i a e N i D E d c E,i
= − and = +
dz UR U R dz 2 dz UE U E dz 2

In these equations, the velocities in an empty bed U R and U E are, by


definition, positive, and so too are the dispersivities DR and D E .

These equations are of the form:

αc′′ + c′ = γ (concentration equation)


16 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

DR DE
αR = >0 αE = − <0
UR UE

a e Ni a e Ni
γR = >0 γE = >0 γ E and γ R are of the same sign and
UR UE
positive.

Note that if we were to travel along the column in the direction of


decreasing concentration, we would necessarily have:

γ<0 αR < 0 αE > 0 Ni < 0

As is the case for the calculation without backmixing, we can divide the
extractor into elementary slices. The slice k lies between sections k − 1 and k.

Let us set:

dc d2c
c′ = and c′′ =
dz dz 2
The solution to the concentration equation on crossing a slice is:

⎡ ⎡ (z − z k −1 ) ⎤ ⎤
ci,k = ci,k −1 + γ (z k − z k −1 ) − α ( γ − c 'i,k −1 ) ⎢1 − exp ⎢ − k ⎥⎥
⎣ ⎣ α ⎦⎦

⎡ (z − z k −1 ) ⎤
c'i,k = γ − ( γ − c'i,k −1 ) exp ⎢ − k ⎥
⎣ α ⎦
1 ⎡ (z − z k −1 ) ⎤
c''i,k = ( γ − c'i,k −1 ) exp ⎢ − k ⎥
α ⎣ α ⎦
We can check that, for zk = zk −1 , we do indeed have:

ci,k = ci,k −1 and c'i,k = c'i,k −1

These equations are satisfied even if the values of α and γ are different
for slices k − 1 and k.

The values of γ vary throughout the length of the extractor, and we have
to write γ i,k .
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 17

Also, using the expression of c'i,k :

⎡ ⎛ z i, k − z i, k − 1 ⎞ ⎤
( γ i,k − c 'i,k ) = ( γ i,k −1 − c 'i,k −1 ) exp ⎢ − ⎜ ⎟⎥
⎣ ⎝ αk ⎠⎦

Thus, throughout a calculation, the sign of (γ − c') remains constant. The


same cannot be said of the sign of c′′ . Indeed, in view of the concentration
equation, we know that:
γ − c′
c" =
α
Upon exiting the extractor, the two fluids, as we shall see, have a zero
value of c′ . Therefore, the sign of (γ − c') is identical to that of γ.

Figures 1.9 and 1.10 illustrate these results, with the simplistic hypothesis
that the γ values are constant everywhere in the extractor.

Figure 1.9. Concentration profiles for γ > 0

In each liquid, we solve as many equations as there are components, and


accept that the coefficient of axial dispersion has a common value for all the
components of the liquid.
18 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The above supposes that the concentrations of the transferred components


are low. If this is not so, we can take the following approach:
– after calculating the transfers in the slice in question with the above
method, we take account of the presence of non-transferable inerts by
calculating the new total molar flowrate and the new molar fractions on
exiting the slice by keeping the values of c ' = ∂c / ∂z or x ' = ∂x / ∂z ;
– based on the values thus obtained, we run the calculations for the next
slice.

Figure 1.10. Concentration profiles for γ < 0

1.3.4. Boundary conditions

On crossing the section of outlet of a liquid, there is continuity and


equality of composition between the inside and the outside of the device.
However, on the outside, there is no longer any backmixing. Consequently,
both on the outside and the inside:
DR dcRi
Outlet of the phase R: cRi = c*Ri so =0
U R dz

DE dcEi
Outlet of the extract E: cEi = c*Ei so =0
UE dz
On the other hand, at the input of the two liquids, the composition of each
feed differs from that of the liquid present in the extractor. There is a “jump”
in concentration.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 19

1.3.5. Overall balance of a component

Let us assign the index 0 to the poor end (input) of the solvent and the
index 1 to the rich end. For the component i:

(Uc) E,i,F + (Uc) R ,i,F = (Uc) E,i,1 + (Uc) R ,i,0


inlet outlet

The inlets have the index F instead of 0 or 1, because there is a


concentration jump between the incoming fluid (fed in) and the fluid of the
same nature but inside the extractor.

In that balance, the inlets are known, as is (Uc)R ,i,0 , which is the term
defining the specification of the component i – that is, its maximum
concentration in the outgoing liquid, whether it is impurity in a “raffinate” or
a noble product lost in a “residue”.

Thus, this balance enables us to calculate (Uc)E,i,1 .

1.3.6. Calculation procedure

For the slice k, the liquid A and the component i, let us define the mean
values:

1 ci
x A,i,k = (x A,i,k −1 + x A,i,k ) with xi = n
2
∑c
j=1
j

Based on these mean values, we calculate the chemical potentials and,


consequently, the flux densities Ni,k . Let us take:

γ A,i,k = a e Ni,k U A,k

The calculation of the section k on the basis of the section k − 1 takes


place in two or three iterations because, to begin with, we do not know the
x A,i,k , and therefore have to take:

(0)
x A,i,k = x A,i,k −1
20 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The result is the following sequence of calculations.


1) A calculation without backmixing gives us the two concentration
profiles PE(0) and PR(0) .
2) We start at the outlet of the phase R, adopting the hypothesis that
backmixing occurs only in that phase. We obtain the profile PR(1) .
3) We start at the outlet of the extract, working on the assumption that
there is no backmixing in the phase R, which gives us the concentration
profile PE(1) .

1 (0)
4) We start at the outlet of the phase R, using the profile (PE + PE(1) ) ,
2
which gives us the profile PR(2) .

1 (0)
5) We start at the outlet of the phase E, using the profile (PR + PR(1) ) ,
2
which gives us the profile PE(2) .

2n) We start at the outlet of the phase R, using the profile


1 (n −2)
(PE + PE(n −1) ) , which gives us the profile PR(n) .
2
2n + 1) We start at the outlet of the phase E, using the profile
1 (n −2)
(PR + PR(n −1) ) , which gives us the profile PE(n) .
2
etc.

During the course of the calculation, it may be that the difference in


chemical potentials (μR,i,k − μE,i,k ) tends toward zero. We then say that there
is “pinching”. The remedy to this situation is to increase the flowrate of
solvent.

NOTE.–

We can also operate as follows: to begin with, a material balance is


found, which gives us the two output concentrations as a function of the inlet
conditions. The calculation is done starting at the poor end (see Figure 1.10)
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 21

and having decreased the concentration CE of the incoming solvent by 15%.


We reach the rich end when the derivative dcE/dz is close to zero material.
We then compare the outlet concentration thus found which is the outlet
concentration given by the material balance. The relative gap between the
two values can be used to correct the rate of 15% accepted for the
concentration of the solvent at the inlet of the column. In principle, two or
three iterations should be enough.

1.4. Transfer parameters

1.4.1. Mean velocities in an empty bed

The variations in molar flowrate in the slice k are:

ΔWE,k and ΔWR ,k

The total concentrations cE,T and cR,T can generally be calculated by


cT = 1 ∑ x i vi , where vi are the partial molar volumes that can be
i

assimilated to the volumes in the pure state, except in cases such as water–
alcohol mixtures.

The mean values of the velocities in an empty bed would therefore be:
1 WE,k 1 WR ,k
U E,k = U E,k −1 + and U R ,k = U R ,k −1 +
2 c E,T A c 2 c R ,T A c

1.4.2. Mean drop diameter

The aim is to find a way to simply express the surface of the drops for a
unit of volume (or mass) of the dispersed phase.

In the domain of liquid–liquid extraction, the technique is to take


photographs of the dispersion and count the drops. Let ni represent the
number of drops whose diameter is equal to di ± δdi . Let n T be the total
number of drops counted.
nT = ∑ ni
i
22 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The total surface of these drops is:

π∑ n i d i
2

Their volume is:

π

3
ni d i
6 i

By definition of d 32 , the ratio sought is:

6∑ n i d i
2

6
σ= i
=
∑n d
3
i
d 32
i
i

Thus:

∑n d
3
i i
d 32 = i

∑n d
2
i i
i

1.4.3. Equivalence of d32 and the mean harmonic diameter

In the operations of filtration, crystallization, adsorption, grinding, etc.,


we examine the particle-size distribution of the divided solid, which
we process using the superposed sieves technique. The aperture (mesh
dimension) of the sieves decreases as we move down the column. In the top
sieve, we deposit a sample of the population being studied, and vibrate the
whole setup. Finally, we weigh the “refuse” left in each sieve.

We shall suppose that all the particles have the same density and that,
consequently, the mass and volume fractions are equal to a common value mi .

The volume fraction of the class i in the total population is:


n i π d 3i 6 n d3
mi = = i i 3
∑ nj πd j 6 ∑njd j
j
3

j
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 23

The mean harmonic diameter is defined by:


1 m 1 3 di
2
=∑ i = ∑ n d ×
∑ n j d 3j i
i i 3
dh i di di
j

Thus:

1 ∑n di
2
i
1
= i
=
dh ∑n d
j
j
3
j d 32

1.4.4. Interfacial area

The surface of the drops for a unit volume of the dispersed phase is:

6
σ=
d 32

The same surface for the unit volume of the mixture (dispersed phase +
contiguous phase) is:


a=
d32

φ: retention of the dispersed phase (i.e. volume of the dispersed phase


divided by the volume of the dispersion).

1.4.5. Transfer coefficients

[KUM 99] propose an expression for the partial coefficients. According


to the authors, this expression is useful for rotating-disc contactors and for
perforated-plate pulsed columns.

As regards packed columns, Laddha et al. [LAD 78] propose for the
coefficient on the side of the dispersed phase:

β′D = 0.02VslScD−0.5 ( m.s −1 )


24 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The slip velocity Vsl is defined in section 1.4.8.

For the continuous phase, [SEI 88] recommend:

D
β′ = 0.698 Sc 0, 4 0,5
C Re (1 − φ ) d ( m.s −1 )
C
32

The coefficients thus obtained are around half those that stemmed from
Kumar and Hartland’s relations [KUM 99], used with a power of mass
agitation equal to zero. Thus, the packed column, although it is not very
costly in terms of investment, is rather mediocre in comparison to the pulsed
column and the rotating-disc contactor.

1.4.6. Coalescence

For the sake of simplicity, consider two spherical drops of similar sizes,
very close to one another but without contact between them. The contiguous
phase between the two drops has the form of a biconcave lens (that is,
concave on both its two faces). Let us focus on the part of the lens whose
diameter is, say, one quarter that of the drops. The volume of that part would
be 10–50 times less than that of each drop. Let ω represent that volume.

Given the transfer of the solute, the small volume ω will very soon reach
equilibrium with the drops, whilst the composition of those drops will have
varied very little.

For a transfer D → C , the concentration in the volume ω will very


quickly reach equilibrium with the drops, and will have increased. However,
the surface tension varies in the opposite direction to the concentration of the
solute. It will therefore have decreased, which will cause a movement of the
interface, which will move away from the axis linking the centers of the two
drops, entraining a part of the volume ω. Thus, the two drops will come
closer to one another and, finally, coalesce.

For a transfer C → D , coalescence will be hampered, and the drops will


be smaller.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 25

1.4.7. Marangoni effect

The material transfer is not uniform on the surface of a drop. The


compositions of the two phases at the interface, therefore, are not uniform.
However, sometimes, the interfacial tension is very sensitive to the
variations in composition of the two fluids. We then see movements of the
interface from the zones of low interfacial tension toward the zones of high
interfacial tension. These movements take place at a velocity of around one
cm.s −1 and that agitation quickly renews the concentrations, which activates
the transfer which, therefore, may be up to two or three times more intense
than normal (i.e. calculated with the correlations available for the chosen
extractor).

It is unfortunately not possible to predict, in advance with simple


resources, the Marangoni effect, which constitutes an important argument in
favor of a prior study in a micropilot, i.e. with flowrates 10–50 times lower
than the flowrates to be used for the industrial installation.

1.4.8. Slip velocity

The slip velocity, Vsl , is defined by:

UC U D
Vsl = +
1− φ φ

UC and U D : velocities in an empty bed, of the contiguous phase and


dispersed phase respectively.

This definition is valid for the rotating-disc contactor and for the
perforated-plate pulsed column.

Now let ε be the fraction of the volume of a packed column left free by
the packing. We then have:

UC U
Vgl = + D
ε (1 − φ) εφ
26 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

Numerous authors have put forward expressions for the direct calculation
of the slip velocity (see [KUM 99, KUM 94]). Hereinafter, though, we shall
not use these expressions.

PRACTICAL NOTES.–

The time necessary for the establishment of the permanent regime is, in
practice:


T=
Q D + QC

Ω : volume occupied by the ensemble of the two phases: m 3 ;

QC and QD : volume flowrates of the contiguous and dispersed phases:


m .s −1.
3

The ratio between the flowrates is, usually, such that:

QD
1/ 3 < <3
QC

1.4.9. Flowrates on flooding (approximate method)

We know that, by definition, the slip velocity is written:

UD UC
Vsl = +
φ 1− φ

The velocity Vsl is obviously not constant when the flowrates vary.
Obviously, the hypothesis was made a long time ago that we could write:

Vgl = V0 (1 − φ) [1.3]
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 27

Here, V0 was considered to be constant. In addition, we accepted that,


when the flowrates vary, their ratio R = UD UC remains constant. Therefore:

V0 (1 − φ)
UC =
R 1
+
φ 1− φ

When we gradually increase UC , we reach a state where any additional


flowrate does not pass through the device, and each liquid, when it is input,
is entrained by the other, and thus comes out again immediately. This
situation corresponds to flooding, meaning that UC reaches a maximum. In
other words:

dUC
=0

meaning that:

2(1 − R)φ 2 + 3Rφ − R = 0

The retention ϕE on engorgement is the following root of this equation:

−3R + R 2 + 8R
φE = [1.4]
4(1 − R)

This gives us UC and U D .

When the correct calculation of φE is performed in iterations, it is


interesting to take, as starting values, the value given by equation [1.4]
above.

1.5. Dispersed phase feeder

1.5.1. Influence of the feeder on the effectiveness of the transfer

We use the term “feeder” for the distributor of the feed.


28 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

We define the spreading length Lh as being the horizontal distance to be


covered by the dispersed phase in order to obtain a uniform distribution of
this phase on the section of the extractor. Thus, for a feed by a single jet on
the axis of the column, the Lh will be equal to the radius of the (circular)
section of the extractor.

As long as the dispersed phase is not present on all of the section of the
column, the transfer practically does not take place because the contiguous
phase tends to flow where the dispersed phase is absent. Experience shows
that we can express the dead height Hm as follows:

Hm = 15Lh

The usable height will be:

H U = HT − H m

HT is the total height occupied by the column’s internal apparatus, i.e.:


– the packing (rings, saddles, etc.);
– the ensemble of the perforated plates in a pulsed column.

The type of feeder has no influence at all on the effectiveness of rotating-


disc contactors because, from the first compartment and by the centrifugal
action of the rotor’s discs, the ensemble of the contiguous and dispersed
phases is animated with a toroidal motion which occupies the whole section
of the contactor.

1.5.2. Proposed design for the feeder

We can divide the section into squares (on the edges of the distributor,
the “squares” are curvilinear).

In Figure 1.11, the crosshatched surface is holed. Each crosshatched


square is fed by its own tube. Thus, there are as many tubes as there are
squares, and each tube supports the square that it feeds. Using the language
of botany, we say that it is an umbel structure. All the tubes diverge from a
single vertical tube which feeds them all.
General Theory of Liquid–Liquid Extractors 29

Between two crosshatched squares, there is an empty space of width 2l ,


which is traversed by the contiguous phase, whilst the dispersed phase
traverses the holes in the crosshatched surface.

Figure 1.11. Two contiguous squares

The section of the column is:

πD2T
A CO = = n 2 L2 where n 2 = 4, 9, 16 or 25
4

Thus:

DT π ⎛ π ⎞
L= ⎜⎜ = 0.886 ⎟⎟
n 4 ⎝ 4 ⎠

We shall choose:

l ψL L

The section area of the extractor would be:

πDc2
= n 2 L2 whence L
4

The total section of the crosshatched squares would have:


A ha = n 2L 2(1− 2×ψ) 2
30 Liquid–Liquid and Solid–Liquid Extractors

The unusable height would be:

H 15l 15ψL

EXAMPLE 1.1.–

DT = 1 m n 2 = 16

ψ = 0.15

0.886 × 1
L= = 0, 22 m
4

L 0.22 0.15 0.033 m

Hm = 15 × 0.033 = 0.49 m

If we had fed in the dispersed phase with a simple circle whose diameter
is equal to DT 2 , we would have had:

DT 2
Lh = = 0.25 m
2

Hm = 15 × 0.25 = 3.75 m instead of 0.49 m.

NOTE.–

Often, the diameter of packed columns or perforated-plate pulsed


columns is no more than 0.3 m, which dispenses with the installation of
sophisticated feeders such as that described above.

1.5.3. Velocity through the holes in the distributor

For a low flowrate, only a limited number of holes operate and are
therefore active. They work drop by drop. When the flowrate is increased,
the number of active holes increases and, when they are all working, a slight
increase in flowrate results in the appearance of jets at the outlet from the
holes. The velocity through the holes is therefore equal to Vj .
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the happy adventurers had hauled their boats, two entire planks of
the Red Eric were devoted to the kindling of a large cooking-fire, and
they enjoyed a bountiful and savage feast.
Such is an experience of Arctic life; of the hardships endured by
the heroic men who go forth to do the work of Science and
Civilization.
Returning to the seals, we may remark that, according to a
scientific authority, the angle of weedy rock on which a phoca is
accustomed to rest with his family comes to be regarded as his
property, and no other individuals of his species are entitled to lay
claim to it. Although in the water these animals congregate together
in numerous herds, and protect and courageously defend one
another, yet, when they have once emerged from their favourite
element, they regard themselves on their own space of rock as in a
sacred domicile, where no comrade has a right to intrude on their
domestic tranquillity. If any stranger approach this family centre, the
chief—or shall we call him the father?—prepares to repel by force
what he considers an unwarrantable encroachment; and a terrible
combat invariably ensues, which terminates only with the death of
the lord of the rock, or the compulsory retreat of the intruder.
But a family never seizes upon a larger tract than it absolutely
requires, and lives peaceably with neighbouring families, from which
it is seldom separated by a greater interval than forty or fifty paces. If
compelled by necessity, they will even live on amicable terms at
much closer quarters. Three or four families will share a rock, a
cavern, or an ice-floe; but each occupies the place allotted to it at the
original apportionment, and shuts himself within it, so to speak, nor
ever meddles with individuals of another family.
THE OTARY.
Our modern naturalists divide the Phocidæ into two distinct
orders: the Phocæ properly so called, which have no external ears,
but only an auditory orifice on the surface of the head; and the
Otariæ, which are provided with external organs.
The remarks we have been making apply more particularly to the
common seal (Phoca vitulina), or small Spitzbergen seal, which
measures from four to five feet in length. The Greenland or harp seal
(Phoca Grœnlandica), to which we have already alluded, is larger
and fatter, and is distinguished by the changes of colour it undergoes
before it reaches maturity. We have also spoken of the bearded seal
(Phoca barbata), which sometimes attains a length of ten feet, and is
known, not only by its size, but its thick and strong moustaches. The
hooded seal (Stemmatopus cristatus) is distinguished by the globular
and expansible sac situated on the summit of the head of the males.
This species grows to the length of seven or eight feet, and inhabits
the waters of Newfoundland and Greenland.
The value of the seal to the Eskimo tribes will best be understood
from a description of the uses to which various parts of the animal
are applied in an Eskimo hut.
THE HOODED SEAL.
We will suppose this hut to measure about five or five and a half
feet in height, and about ten feet in diameter. The walls are made of
stones, moss, and the bones of seals, narwhals, whales, and other
ocean-creatures. They are not arched, but recede inward gradually
from the foundation, and are capped by long oblong slabs of slate-
stone extending from side to side. We enter: the flooring consists of
thin flat stones. At the back part of the hut the floor rises about a
foot, and this breck, as the elevation is called, serves both as couch
and seat, being covered with a thick layer of dried moss and grass,
under seal-skins, dog-skins, and bear-skins. Similar elevations are
placed at the corners in front; under one of which will lie, perhaps, a
litter of pups, with their mother, and under the other a portion of
seal’s meat. In the square front of the hut, above the passage-way, a
window is inserted; the light being admitted through a square sheet
of strips of dried intestines, sewed together. The entrance is in the
floor, close to the front wall, and is covered with a piece of seal-skin.
Seal-skins are hung about the walls to dry. At the edge of the breck,
on either side, sits a woman, each busily engaged in attending to a
smoky lamp, fed with seal’s oil. These lamps are made of soapstone,
and in shape resemble a clam-shell, being about eight inches in
diameter. The cavity is filled with oil obtained from seal’s blubber;
and on the straight edge the flame burns quite vividly, the wick which
furnishes it being made of moss. The business of the women is
apparently to prevent the lamps from smoking, and to keep them
supplied with blubber, large pieces of which are placed in the cavity,
the heat drawing out the oil. About three inches above this flame
hangs, suspended from the ceiling, an oblong square pot made of
the same material as the lamp, in which a joint of seal is simmering
slowly. Above this hangs a rack, made of bare rib-bones, bound
together crosswise, on which stockings and mittens, and various
garments made of seal-skin, are laid to dry. No other fire can be
seen than that which the lamps supply, nor is any other needed. So
many persons are crowded into the confined interior that it is
insufferably hot, while the whole place reeks with the smell of seal-
flesh, seal-oil, and seal-skin!

It is natural enough that we should here introduce an account of


the Eskimo mode of catching seals. The great season of the seal-
hunt is the spring, when the inoffensive phocæ gambol and sport in
the open water-ways near the coasts, or clamber on the ice-floes to
enjoy the rays of the tardy sun. They are of a wary and timid
disposition, and we may suppose that their traditions have taught
them to be on their guard against man; but as all their habits and
ways are well known to the Eskimo, they do not succeed in eluding
his dexterous perseverance. Sometimes the hunter attires himself in
a seal-skin, and so exactly imitates their appearance and
movements that he approaches within spear-range of them before
the disguise is detected; or else he creeps into their haunts behind a
white screen, which is propelled in front of him by means of a sledge.
As the season verges upon midsummer less precaution becomes
necessary; the eyes of the seals being so congested by the fierce
radiance of the sun that they are often nearly blind. In winter they are
assailed while labouring at their breathing-holes, or when they rise
for the purpose of respiration.
If an Eskimo satisfies himself that a seal is working away beneath
the ice, he takes up his station at the suspected point, and seldom
quits it, however severe the weather, until he has captured the
animal. To protect himself from the freezing blast, he throws up a
snow-wall four feet in height, and seating himself in its shade, he
rests his spears, lines, and other appliances on a number of little
forked sticks inserted into the snow, in order that he may move them,
when wanted, without making the slightest noise. He carries his
caution to such an excess, that he even ties his own knees together
with a thong to prevent his garments from rustling! about
AN ESKIMO SEAL-HUNTER.
To discover whether the seal is still gnawing at the ice, our patient
watcher makes use of his keep-kuttuk; a slender rod of bone, no
thicker than ordinary bell-wire, cleverly rounded, with a knob at one
end and a sharp point at the other.
This implement he thrusts into the ice, and the knob, which
remains above the surface, informs him by its motion whether the
animal is still engaged in making his hole; if it does not move, the
attempt is given up in that place, and the hunter betakes himself
elsewhere. When he supposes the hole to be nearly completed, he
stealthily raises his spear, and as soon as he can hear the blowing of
the seal, and knows therefore that the ice-crust is very thin, he drives
it into the unsuspecting animal with all his might; and then hacks
away with his sharp-edged knife, or panna, the intervening ice, so as
to repeat his blows, and secure his victim. The neituk, or Phoca
hispida, being the smallest seal, is held while struggling, either by
the hand, or by a line one end of which is twisted round a spear
driven into the ice. In the case of the bearded seal, or oguka, the line
is coiled round the hunter’s leg or arm; for a walrus, round his body,
the feet being at the same time firmly planted against a hummock of
ice, so as to increase the capability of resistance. A boy of fifteen
can kill a neituk, but the larger animals can be mastered only by a
robust and experienced adult.
We come now to speak of the Whale, which, in size, is the
sovereign of the Arctic seas, and the grandest type of marine life.
Whales (Cetacea) are, as most persons now-a-days know, an
order of aquatic mammals, distinguished by their fin-like anterior
extremities, and by the peculiarity that the place of the posterior
extremities is supplied by a large horizontal caudal fin, or tail; while
the cervical bones are so compressed that the animal, externally at
least, seems to have no neck.
The general form of the whale, notwithstanding its position
among the Mammalia, is similar to that of the fishes, and the
horizontal elongation of the body, the smooth and rounded surface,
the gradual attenuation of the extremities of the trunk, and the
magnitude of the fins and tail, are specially adapted to easy and swift
motion in the water. The arrangement of the bones composing the
anterior limb is very curious. The whole of the fin consists of exactly
the same parts as those which we find in the human hand and arm;
but they are so concealed beneath the thick cutaneous or
integumentary envelope, that not a trace of bone is visible. In this
respect an intermediate organization is shown by the fore limbs of
the seal.
The posterior extremity, in all the Cetacea, is either absolutely
deficient, or else rudimentary. If rudimentary, its sole vestige consists
of certain small bones, the imperfect representation of a pelvis,
suspended, as it were, in the flesh, and unconnected with the spinal
column. Here we may observe a remarkable difference between the
whale and the seal: in the latter, as we have seen, there is a short
tail, and the posterior extremities perform the office of a true caudal
fin; in the former this important organ of progression consists, to use
Mr. Bell’s words, of “an extremely broad and powerful horizontal disc,
varying in figure in the different genera, but in all constituting the
principal instrument of locomotion.” In fishes the tail is set vertically,
but in whales horizontally; and it has been well said that the
admirable adaptation of such a peculiarity in its position to the
requirements of the animal forms a fresh and beautiful illustration of
the infinite resource and foresight of the Creative Wisdom.
Thus: the fishes, respiring only the air contained in the dense
liquid medium in which they live, require no access to the
atmosphere; and, therefore, their progression is chiefly confined to
the same region. But the whales, breathing atmospheric air, must
necessarily come to the surface for each respiration; and hence they
need a powerful instrument or lever, the position of which shall apply
its impulse in a vertical direction, so as to impel their colossal bulk
from the lowest depths of ocean to the surface every time the lungs
require to receive a fresh supply of atmospheric air. The greatest
rapidity of motion is effected by alternate strokes of the tail against
the water, upwards and downwards; but the usual progression is
accomplished by an oblique lateral and downward impulse, first on
one side and then on the other, just as a boat is propelled by a man
with a single oar in the art of “sculling.” The extent of the tail in some
of the larger species is really immense; the superficies being no less
than about a hundred square feet, and its breadth considerably
exceeding twenty feet.
The common, right, or Greenland whale (Balæna mysticetus) has
been, for centuries, the object of man’s systematic pursuit, on
account of its valuable oil and scarcely less valuable baleen.
THE GREENLAND WHALE.
This whale seldom exceeds fifty to sixty feet in length, or thirty to
forty in girth, and, therefore, is by no means the head of its family. As
in other species, the body is thick and bulky forwards, largest about
the middle, and tapers suddenly towards the tail. The head is
colossal; broad, flat, and rounded beneath, and narrow above; it
forms about a third of the animal’s entire length, and is about ten or
twelve feet broad. Its lips—such lips!—are five or six feet thick. They
do not cover any teeth, but they protect a pair of very formidable
jaws. The cavernous interior of the mouth is filled up with two series
of whalebone laminæ, about three hundred in each, which require
particular description. The whalebone, or baleen, as it is called,
consists of numerous parallel plates, layers, or laminæ, each of
which is formed of a central coarse fibrous layer lying between two
that are compact and externally polished. But this outer part does not
completely cover the inner; a kind of edge is exposed, and this edge
terminates in a loose fringed or fibrous extremity. Moreover, at the
base of each plate of baleen lies a conical cavity, covering a pulp
which corresponds with it; and this pulp is sunk within the substance
of the gum or buccal membrane stretched over the palate and upper
jaw.
The compact outer layers of the baleen plate are continuous with
a white horny layer of the gum, which passes on to the surface of
each plate; and the pulp may be regarded, therefore, as the
secreting organ of the internal coarse structure only. The filaments of
the fringe are exceedingly numerous, and so fill up the mouth-cavity
as to form a very efficient and ingenious sieve or strainer; and as the
esophagus, or “swallow,” of the whale is so confined as to be unable
to admit of the passage even of the smaller fish, and the food of the
whale consequently is limited to minute organisms, such as the
medusæ, this skilfully devised construction is absolutely requisite in
order to retain the whole of those which are taken into the mouth.
The mode in which the whale feeds may be thus described:—
The broad waters of the Arctic seas teem with innumerable
shoals of molluscous, radiate, and crustaceous animals, and these
are frequently so numerous as absolutely to colour the wave-
surface.
When a whale, therefore, desires food, it opens its colossal
mouth, and a host of these organisms is, as it were, swept up by the
great expanse of the lower jaw: as the mouth closes, the water is
ejected, and the life it contained is imprisoned by the appliance we
have attempted to describe.
If we consider the number of whales found in the Northern seas,
and the mighty bulk of each individual, our imagination entirely fails
to appreciate the countless myriads of minute organisms which must
be sacrificed to their due nourishment.
One of the principal products of the Greenland whale is its
baleen, or whalebone, with the domestic uses of which our readers
will be familiar; but the large quantities of oil which it yields are still
more valuable. A whale sixty feet in length will supply fully twenty
tons of pure oil.
Besides the common whale, our hunters find in the seas of the
North the razor-backed whale, or northern rorqual (Balænoptera
physalis), characterized by the prominent ridge which extends along
its mighty back. This monster of the deep attains a length, it is said,
of one hundred feet, and measures from thirty to thirty-five feet in
circumference. But its yield of oil and baleen is less than that of the
right or Greenland whale, and as its capture is a task of difficulty and
danger, the whalers seldom attack it. In its movements it is more
rapid and restless, and when harpooned it frequently plunges
downward with such force and velocity as to break the line. In
several respects it differs from the Greenland species; and
particularly in the nature of its food, for it feeds upon fishes of
considerable size.
Some of our naturalists affirm that several species of rorquals
exist in the Arctic seas; and the pike whale, so called from the
resemblance of its mouth to that of a pike, is frequently described as
an independent species. Others, however, are of opinion that the
pike is simply the young of the monster we have been describing.
The rorqual is very voracious, and preys extensively upon fishes; as
many as six hundred cod, to say nothing of smaller “fry,” having been
found in the stomach of a single individual.
While the Greenland whale is being rapidly driven back into the
icy wildernesses beyond Behring Strait, on the west, and the creeks
and gulfs beyond Baffin Bay, on the east, the rorquals, including the
Balænoptera rostratus (or beaked whale), Balænoptera musculus,
and Balænoptera boöps, still frequent the open waters,—their pursuit
being, as we have shown, more difficult and less profitable. They are
generally found in attendance on the herring-shoals, of which they
are the assiduous and destructive enemies. Off Greenland,
Spitzbergen, and Novaia Zemlaia they are found in considerable
numbers.
Our whalers go forth every year in well-provided ships, and
supplied with the best and most formidable weapons which scientific
ingenuity can devise. Still they find the enterprise one of peril and
hardship, and it is universally recognized as requiring in those who
embark in it no ordinary powers of endurance, as well as courage,
patience, and perseverance. Yet the Asiatic and American tribes do
not fear to confront the ocean-leviathan with the simplest of arms.
The Aleüt embarks in his little skiff, or baidar, and catching sight of
his prey, stealthily approaches it from behind until he nearly reaches
the monster’s head. Then he suddenly and dexterously drives his
short spear into the huge flank, just under the fore fin, and retreats
as swiftly as his well-plied oars can carry him. If the spear has sunk
into the flesh, the whale is doomed; within the next two or three days
it will perish, and the currents and the waves will hurl the vast bulk
on the nearest shore, to be claimed by its gallant conqueror. And as
each spear bears its owner’s peculiar mark, the claim is never
disputed.
Occasionally the baidar does not escape in time, and the
exasperated leviathan, furiously lashing the waters with its tail, hurls
the frail boat high up into the air, as if it were a reed, or sinks it with
one crushing blow. No wonder that those of their race who undertake
so hazardous a calling are held in high repute among the Aleüts. To
sally forth alone, and encounter the whale in the icy waters of the
Polar Sea, is a task demanding the utmost intrepidity and the utmost
tranquillity of nerve.
Many of the whales thus daringly harpooned are lost. It is on
record that, in the summer of 1831, one hundred and eighteen
whales were struck near Kadjack, and of these only forty-three were
found. The others either drifted to far-off shores and lonely unknown
isles, or became the prey of sharks and ocean-birds. Wrangell states
that of late years the Russians have introduced the use of the
harpoon, and engaged some English harpooneers to teach the
Aleüts the secret of their craft; and, therefore, the older and more
hazardous method, which the Aleüts had learned from their
forefathers, will soon be a thing of the past.

The Eskimos devote the month of August to the whale-fishery,


and for this purpose they assemble in companies, and plant a colony
of huts on some bold headland of the Polar coast, where the water is
of depth sufficient to float their destined victim.
As soon as a whale’s colossal bulk is seen outstretched on the
water, a dozen kayaks or more cautiously paddle up in the rear, until
one of them, shooting ahead, comes near enough on one side for
the men to drive the spear into its flesh with all the force of both
arms. To the spear are attached an inflated seal-skin and a long coil
of thong. The whale dives immediately it is stricken. After awhile it
reappears, and the signal being given by the floating seal-skin buoy,
all the canoes again paddle towards their prey. Again the opportunity
is seized for launching the fatal spears; and this process is repeated
until the exhausted whale rises more and more frequently to the
surface, is finally killed, and towed ashore.
Captain M’Clure fell in with an Eskimo tribe off Cape Bathurst
which hunted the whale in this primitive fashion, but the females, as
well as the men, engaged in the pursuit. An omaiak, or woman’s
boat, he says, is “manned by ladies,” having as harpooneer a
chosen man of the tribe; and a shoal of small fry, in the form of
kayaks, or single-men canoes, are in attendance. The harpooneer
singles out “a fish,” drives into its flesh his weapon, to which an
inflated seal-skin is attached by means of a walrus-hide thong. The
wounded fish is then incessantly harassed by the men in the
kayacks with weapons of a similar description; and a number of
these, driven into the unfortunate whale, baffle its efforts to escape,
and wear out its strength, until, in the course of a day, it dies from
exhaustion and loss of blood.
Sherard Osborn tells us that the harpooneer, when successful,
becomes a very great personage indeed, and is invariably decorated
with the Eskimo order of the Blue Ribbon; that is, a blue line is drawn
across his face over the bridge of his nose. This is the highest
honour known to the heroes of Cape Bathurst; but it carries along
with it the privilege of the decorated individual being allowed to take
unto himself a second wife!

In the waters of Novaia Zemlaia, Greenland, and Spitzbergen is


found the narwhal, or sea unicorn (Monodon monoceros), which was
at one time the theme of so many extravagant legends. It belongs to
the Cetacea, but differs from the whale in having no teeth, properly
so called, and in being armed with a formidable horn, projecting
straight forward from the upper jaw, in a direct line with the body.
This horn, or tusk, the use of which has not been satisfactorily
ascertained, is harder and whiter than ivory, spirally striated from
base to point, tapers throughout, and measures from six to ten feet
in length. Mr. Bell remarks that it would be a strange anomaly if the
apparent singleness of this weapon were real. In truth, both teeth are
invariably found in the jaw, not only of the male, but of the female
also; but in ordinary (though not in all) cases one only, and this in the
male, is fully developed, the other remaining in a rudimentary
condition—even as both do in the female.

NARWHALS, MALE AND FEMALE.


The narwhal, from mouth to tail, is about twenty feet long, though
individuals measuring thirty feet are sometimes met with. Its head is
short, and the upper part convex; its mouth small; its spiracle, or
respiratory vent, duplicate within; its tongue long; the pectoral fins
small. The back, which is convex and rather wide, has no fins, and
sharpens gradually towards the tail, which, as in other Cetacea, is
horizontal. The food of the narwhal, whose habits are remarkably
pacific, consists of medusæ, the smaller kinds of flat fish, and other
marine animals.

A striking spectacle which frequently greets the eye of the


voyager in the Arctic seas is that of a shoal of dolphins gambolling
and leaping, as if in the very heyday of enjoyment. The beluga,
sometimes called the white whale (Delphinus leucos), attracts
attention by the dazzling whiteness of its body and the swiftness of
its movements. It frequents the estuaries of the Obi and the Irtish,
the Mackenzie and the Coppermine, which it sometimes ascends to
a considerable distance in pursuit of the salmon. Its length varies
from twelve to twenty feet; it has no dorsal fin; and its head is round,
with a broad truncated snout.

A SHOAL OF DOLPHINS.
The black dolphin (Globicephalus globiceps) is also an inhabitant
of the Polar seas, both beyond Behring Strait, and between
Greenland and Spitzbergen. It is, however, frequently met with in
waters further south. Its length averages about twenty-four feet, and
its circumference ten feet. Its smooth oily skin is bluish-black on the
upper, and an obscure white on the lower, parts of the body. Twenty-
two or twenty-four strong interlocking teeth in each jaw form its
formidable apparatus of offence and defence; its dorsal fin is about
fifteen inches high; its tail five feet broad; the pectoral fins are long
and narrow, and well adapted to assist their owner in its rapid
movements. It consorts with its kind in herds of several hundreds,
under the guidance of some old and wary males, whom the rest
follow as docilely as a flock of sheep their bell-wether; hence the
Shetlanders term it the “ca’ing whale.” Large shoals are frequently
stranded on the shores of Norway, Iceland, and the Orkney, Faroe,
and Shetland Isles, furnishing the inhabitants with a welcome booty.

To the same latitudes belong the ferocious orc or grampus


(Delphinus orca), the tiger of the seas, which not only attacks the
porpoise and dolphin, but even the colossal whale. Its broad deep
body is black above and white beneath; the sides are marbled with
black and white. There are thirty teeth in each jaw, those in front
being blunt, round, and slender, while those behind are sharp and
thick; and between each is a space fitted to receive those of the
opposite jaw when the mouth is closed. The back fin of the grampus
is of great size; sometimes measuring as much as six feet in length,
from the base to the tip. The grampus generally voyages in small
squadrons of four or five individuals, following each other in single
file, and alternately rising and sinking in such a manner as to
resemble the undulatory motions of a huge kraken or sea-serpent.
Among the inhabitants of the Polar Ocean must certainly be
included the Polar bear (Thalassarctos maritimus), since it swims
and dives with great dexterity, and, moreover, is often found on the
drifting ice-floes at a distance of eighty to one hundred miles from
land. It is a creature of great strength, great fierceness, and great
courage, though we may not accept the exaggerated accounts of it
which enliven the narratives of the earlier voyagers.

POLAR BEARS.
A noble creature is the Polar bear, says Sherard Osborn, whether
we speak of him by the learned titles of “Ursus maritimus,”
“Thalassarctos maritimus,” or the sailors’ more expressive
nomenclature of “Jack Rough!” With all her many wonders,
continues this lively writer, never did Nature create a creature more
admirably adapted to the life it has to lead. Half flesh, half fish, the
seaman wandering in the inhospitable regions of the North cannot
but be struck with the appearance of latent energy and power its
every action attests, as it rolls in a lithe and swaggering way over the
rough surface of the frozen sea; or, during the brief Arctic summer,
haunts the broken and treacherous “pack” in search of its prey.
When not too loaded with fat—and it seems to fatten readily—the
pace of the bear is leisurely and easy, yet at its slowest it is equal to
that of a good pedestrian; and when alarmed or irritated, its speed is
surprising, though not graceful. On level ice, it flings itself ahead, as
it were, by a violent jerking motion of the powerful fore paws, in what
has been described as an “ungainly gallop;” but it always makes,
when it can, for rough ice, where its strength and agility are best
displayed, and where neither man nor dog can overtake it. In the
Queen’s Channel, during Captain M’Clure’s expedition, more than
one bear was seen making its way over broken-up ice, rugged and
precipitous as the mind can picture, with a truly wonderful facility;
their powerful fore paws and hind legs enabling them to spring from
piece to piece, scaling one fragment and sliding down another with
the activity of a huge quadrumane rather than that of a quadruped.
Evidently it is conscious of its superiority in such rough and perilous
ground, and is generally found at the edge of the belts of hummocks
or broken ice which intersect most ice-fields, or else amongst the
frozen pack-ice of channels such as Barrow’s and the Queen’s.
There is, however, another reason why bears keep among
hummocks and pack-ice—namely, that near such spots water
usually first makes its appearance in the summer. Seals,
consequently, are most numerous there; while the inequalities of the
floe afford shelter to the bears in approaching their prey. During
summer the colour of the Polar bear is of a dull yellowish hue,
closely resembling that of decaying snow or ice. The fur is then thin,
and the hair on the soles of their feet almost wholly rubbed off, as
with the other animals of Arctic climes; but in the autumn, when the
body has recovered from the privations of the previous winter, and a
thick coating of blubber overlays his carcass to meet the exigencies
of another season of scanty fare, the feet, as the season advances,
are beautifully incased and feathered with hair, and the animal’s
colour usually turns to a very pale straw, which, from particular points
of view, as the light strikes it, looks white, or nearly so. The nose and
lips are of a jetty black; the eyes vary in colour. Brown is common,
but some have been seen with eyes of a pale gray. Their sense of
smell is peculiarly acute, facilitated no doubt by the peculiar manner
in which the pure keen air of the North carries scent to very
considerable distances.
Sherard Osborn states that bears have been seen to follow up a
scent, exactly as dogs would do; and the floes about Lowther Island,
in 1851, looked as if the bears had quartered there in search of
seals, after the fashion of a pointer in the green fields of England.
The snorting noise which they make as they approach near indicates
how much more confidence they place in their scent than in their
vision; though both, when the hunter is concerned, are apt to
deceive them.
The Polar bear attains to very formidable proportions; but when
seamen speak of monsters fifteen feet in length, their auditors may
be excused for withholding their belief. Ten feet would seem to be a
maximum; and the bear need be large, strong, and muscular to
master the large Arctic seal, especially the saddle-back and bladder-
nose species. For though it swims well and dives well, it neither
swims nor dives as well as the seal, and would therefore have but
little chance of obtaining a sufficient livelihood if it could not attack
and capture its victim on the ice-floes.
The seal, on the other hand, fully aware of its danger, and of the
only means of escaping from it, always keeps close to the water,
whether it be the hole it has gnawed and broken through the ice, or
the open sea at the floe edge.
And when it lies basking on the floating ice, and apparently
apathetic and lethargic, nothing can exceed its vigilance. With its
magnificent eyes it is able to sweep a wide range of the horizon,
however slightly it turns its head; its keenness of hearing adds to its
security. There is something peculiarly striking in its continuous
watchfulness. Now it raises its head and looks around; now it is
intent on the slightest sound that travels over the crisp surface of the
ice; now it gazes and listens down its hole, a needful precaution
against so subtle a hunter as old Bruin! It would seem impossible to
surprise an animal so vigilant and so wary; and, indeed, in
circumventing its prey the bear exhibits an astuteness and a skill

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