Parametric study of leaching processes using a GUI developed in Matlab

Abstract

With the aim to enhance the learning process of the unit operation of Leaching, it is presented a GUI in Matlab® for designing systems with different types of contact where the stages reach the equilibrium between the solid and liquid phase. The program called LeachING is an application of theoretical studies and material balances presented in highly relevant documents and popular academic books, which has a general procedure that initiates by introducing the feed and solvent quantities with their respective compositions, and a raffinate exit condition for multistage equipment. Finally, material balances and multiple iterative routines were used to calculate raffinate and extract exit conditions, and the minimum number of stages necessary to reach them, allowing the user to get the approximate size and cost of the equipment making this software a powerful academic tool. With the program, it was compared the maximum separation for given conditions between countercurrent and crosscurrent equipment, the behavior of the percentage of separation when increasing feeding with constant solvent, and the behavior of the maximum feeding for the different types of contact.