PROCESS FOR REMOVING THE SALT OF A WEAK ACID AND A WEAK BASE FROM SOLUTION

摘要

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThe salt of a weak acid and a weak base is removed from a solutionby contacting said solution with an emulsion. Said emulsion comprisesan exterior phase which is characterized as immiscible with said solutionand permeable to the weak acid and/or weak base in their un-ionized forms.One of the species which can permeate through said exterior phase reacts witha reactant present in the interior phase of the emulsion which convertssaid permeating species to a non-permeable form, i.e., by neutralization,thus providing a continuing driving force for the permeation of saidpermeating species. The other nonreacting or nonpermeating species isstripped from solution by passing an inert gas through said solution.Preferably, stripping and neutralization in the interior phase of theemulsion are carries out simultaneously. By selection of the reactantpresent in the interior phase of the emulsion, the process of the instantinvention may be designed to remove either the weak acid or the weak basein the interior phase of the emulsion. In a preferred embodiment,ammonium sulfide, dissolved in an aqueous solution, is removed from saidaqueous solution by permeating ammonium through the exterior phase of anemulsion and neutralizing said ammonia in the interior phase with an acidicreactant. Simultaneously, hydrogen sulfide is removed by steam strippingor air blowing of the aqueous solution.