OTIMIZATION OF THE LIQUID-LIQUID EXTRACTION OF NICOTINE IN TERNARY SOLVENT SYSTEMS USING SURFACE RESPONSE METHOD

Abstract

This work aimed to optimize the agitation and rest times in recovery of nicotine from aqueous solutions by liquid-liquid extraction using response surface methodology seeking to maximize the percentage of nicotine in organic phase in liquid-liquid equilibrium. The work based in experimental data of the liquid-liquid equilibrium of the ternary system nicotine + water + toluene at 303.15 K. With the use of the central composite design it was possible to estimate with a 95 % of probability for the Student t-test the optimum times of the agitation and rest times as 4 h and 20 h, respectively. Keywords: factorial design, nicotine, liquid-liquid equilibrium.