A sample purification system includes a container assembly bounding a sample purification compartment and having an upper end and an opposing lower end, the sample purification compartment comprising mixing zones and settling zones. A plurality of shielding elements are positioned within the sample purification compartment so as to at least partially separate adjacent mixing zones and settling zones or separate adjacent mixing zones, the mixing zones being in fluid communication with the settling zones. A mixing element is disposed within each mixing zone. An acoustic wave settler is aligned with a portion of the container assembly, the acoustic wave settler being configured to emit an acoustic wave through the portion of the container assembly and a mixture disposed therein, the acoustic wave coalescing fluid phase droplets disposed in the mixture to increase the buoyancy or density of the fluid phase droplets.

The present disclosure relates to the design of structural features that enable the facile and reproducible fabrication of a microfluidic reactor that eliminates the problem of scaling factors in turn enabling the broad integration of microchannel reactors to industrial scale production. The process is highlighted via the effective and successful scale up of a purification process for the removal of a variety of different classes of impurities from crude vegetable oils mixtures into feedstocks that can be directly integrated into the hydrotreatment vegetable oil hydrogenation process for mass production of synthetic diesel derived from renewable sources.

A sample purification system includes a mixing zone; a settling zone in fluid communication with the mixing zone; a mixer element disposed in the mixing zone, the mixer element being configured to mix immiscible liquids to form a mixture; and a first acoustic wave settler configured to emit an acoustic wave into the mixture.

A solvent extraction settler arrangement comprises a settler (1) having a feed end (2) and a discharge end (3), said settler being arranged to separate solution phases from a dispersion fed from the feed end while the dispersion flows to the discharge end. Elongated discharge launders (4, 5) are arranged at the discharge end (3) of the settler for each solution phase to be separated from the dispersion, each discharge launder (4, 5) including a first end (6), an outlet (7, 8) arranged at the first end, and a closed second end (9). At least one of the discharge launders (4, 5) has a form of a conical tube with a cross-section converging from the first end (6) towards the second end (9) and an inclined bottom (10, 11) descending from the second end (9) towards the first end (6).

A liquid-liquid extraction unit includes a feed compartment for receiving an aqueous phase and an organic phase, mixing feeder such as a pump for mixing the aqueous and organic phases and conveying the mixture under pressure to a reaction compartment where the mixture is subjected to an extractive reaction, and a resting compartment for separating the mixture back into an aqueous phase and an organic phase and from which each phase is recovered.

An improved contactor/separator process is presented where one or more stages of contact and separation is achieved by providing one or more shroud and disengagement device combinations within a vessel, where the disengagement device is connected to the top of the shroud that contains vertically hanging fibers. A liquid admixture of immiscible fluids is directed co-currently upward through the shroud at flooding velocity or greater, where all of the admixture exits the disengagement device through a coalescing material. Tray supports are used to stack additional shroud and disengagement combinations vertically within the vessel. Each tray allows less dense liquids exiting one disengagement device from a lower shroud and disengagement device combination to enter the bottom of a shroud of a shroud and disengagement device combination position vertically above the lower shroud and disengagement device combination.

A conduit contactor for conducting chemical reactions or chemical extractions between immiscible liquids includes a conduit having a hollow interior, a first open end, and a second open end opposite the first open end; a separator in fluid communication with and proximate the second open end; and a plurality of fibers disposed within the conduit. A total surface area of the fibers per volume of the hollow interior of the conduit is from 100 cm.sup.2/cm.sup.3 to 490 cm.sup.2/cm.sup.3.

A fiber bundle contactor may include: a flow path defined by a conduit; a catalytic carbon fiber bundle disposed in the conduit; and an inlet allowing fluid flow into the flow path. A method may include: introducing into vessel a hydrocarbon comprising mercaptan sulfur, an aqueous caustic solution, and an oxidizer; reacting at least a portion of the mercaptan sulfur and the aqueous caustic solution to produce a mercaptide; and reacting the mercaptide and the oxidizer in the presence of a catalytic carbon fiber bundle to produce a disulfide oil.

A method of producing biodiesel using a conduit contactor in fluid communication with a collection vessel includes: introducing a first stream including an alcohol proximate a plurality of fibers positioned within the conduit contactor and extending proximate to the collection vessel; introducing a second stream including an oil into the conduit contactor proximate to the plurality of fibers, wherein the second stream is in contact with the first stream; reacting the oil and the alcohol to for a single phase; receiving the single phase in the collection vessel; and separating biodiesel from the single phase.

A method may include: introducing a fluid comprising a first immiscible phase and a second immiscible phase into a contacting vessel comprising multiple contact stages: flowing the fluid through a first fiber bundle disposed in the contacting vessel; separating at least a portion of the first immiscible phase from the second immiscible phase; and flowing the separated portion of the first immiscible phase through a second fiber bundle disposed in the contacting vessel.