Solvent Extraction – A Few Interesting Facts

Nightfalls in the city in which you live and the criminals and cops all log in for another busy night of work. However; there are others that go to work as well but you may not have thought of them. They are the people involved in the business of solvent extraction.

Expensive to Buy and Dispose of

Solvents you see, are both expensive to buy and expensive to dispose of. This in turn has led to the development of solvent extraction equipment. Even in a small local machine shop, the costs involved with buying and disposing of solvents make even the most expensive solvent extraction equipment a worthwhile investment.

Would You Like a Shot of Carbon Tetrachloride on the Rocks?

So, how are solvents separated from all of the goop and dirt that they are mixed together with after they have served their purpose in a messy industrial setting? In fact, the principles that are involved in solvent extraction are the same principles that are applied in distilling liquor.

Heat–Vapor.....Cold–Fluid

Solvents tend to have a very high “vapor pressure”. That is, that unlike water they tend to convert to vapor much readily at lower temperatures. Also, the reverse is true, in that they are very easily converted back into fluid form when exposed to colder temperatures.

In One End and Then Out the Other

So in short, most solvent extraction systems work by these two principles. The goop and dirt laden used solvent is loaded into a solvent extraction machine and is subsequently heated. The vaporised solvent is then released, sent through a cooler and recovered back as a fluid, clean and pure.

Written by Kenny Albertstein. Find all the professional information you've ever wanted on solvent extraction plus solvent recycler on my site.