Modeling of extraction behavior of docosahexaenoic acid ethyl ester by utilizing slug flow prepared by microreactor

The liquid-liquid extraction dynamics of an ethyl ester of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA-Et) with silver ion was investigated. The kinetic model was derived according to the following stepwise processes: Diffusion of DHA-Et across the organic film, complex-formation between DHA-Et and silver ion at the interface, and diffusion of extracted complex across the aqueous film. The kinetic parameters for the complex-formation reaction were determined from the investigation with the stirred transfer cell. With the proposed model and determined parameters, we predicted the uptakes of DHA-Et for the extraction system utilizing a slug flow prepared by a microchip. The calculated uptakes showed good correlation to the experimental data. The theoretical investigation suggested that the fast equilibration realized for the slug flow extraction system was due to the large specific interfacial area of the slug caused by the presence of wall film and the thin liquid film caused by the internal circulation.