Studies on Removal of Reactive Blue Dye using Cloud Point Extraction

Cloud Point Extraction (CPE) is a separation technique on the basis of phase separation properties of non-ionic surfactants above thecloud point temperature and the solubilization phenomena of coacervate micelles (surfactant rich phase). Cloud point extractionexhibits many attractive advantages such as simplicity, low cost, high enrichment factor, non flammable, non volatile and less toxicsurfactants, moderate extraction conditions and friendliness to the environment. For better operation and the design of CPE, it isnecessary to study the factors affecting CPE such as surfactant concentration, solute concentration, electrolyte concentration andoperating temperature. In the present study, the removal of Reactive blue dye from water using CPE has been carried out using TritonX -100 as non ionic surfactant. The effect of electrolytes on cloud point extraction has been studied using NaCl salt. The experimentsare conducted for different set of surfactant(0.01M to 0.05M), solute(25ppm, 50ppm, 75ppm) and salt concentrations(0.1M to 1M) tofind out the cloud point temperature and the effect of these parameters on the cloud point temperature. The extraction efficiency, phasevolume ratio, distribution coefficient and preconcentration factor were also found for different operating conditions (Surfactant, saltconcentrations and operating temperature). The thermodynamic studies have also been conducted.