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What is the effect of using a centrifugal extractor to extract and refine furfural (2-furancarbaldehyde)?

Using a centrifugal extractor to extract and purify furfural (2-furancarbaldehyde) can achieve better results. In the existing furfural production process, the purity of the crude aldehyde after primary distillation is low, which affects the subsequent refining effect. The use of organic solvent extraction methods cannot completely remove acidic impurities and will also reduce the purity of the product.

In response to these problems, Zhengzhou TIEI Extraction proposed a method using CWL-M centrifugal continuous extraction process equipment. The main process includes two steps: centrifugal extraction and distillation.

In the centrifugal extraction stage, crude furfural and inorganic alkali aqueous solution enter the CWL-M centrifugal extractor through the light phase feed port and the heavy phase feed port respectively. Under the action of centrifugal force, crude furfural and aqueous solution can be quickly separated, and the acidic impurities in crude furfural can also be extracted and removed by the aqueous solution. This method can greatly reduce the residence time of the neutralization process, which not only solves the problem of acidic impurities, but also effectively solves the problem of product polymerization in the existing furfural refining process. At the same time, the continuous operation of the furfural separation process is realized.

Subsequently, the furfural phase that has undergone centrifugal extraction reaction will be further distilled to achieve further purification.

The CWL-M centrifugal extractor can have good application results in the extraction and purification of furfural (2-furancarbaldehyde) section because it has the following performance advantages:
1. High mass transfer efficiency: The mass transfer efficiency of the centrifugal extraction machine is very high, usually reaching more than 99%. Relatively speaking, traditional extraction towers are prone to axial backmixing, resulting in lower mass transfer efficiency.
2. Short residence time: The residence time of the centrifugal extraction machine is shorter than other extraction equipment, and is generally controlled between a few seconds to tens of seconds. This solves the problem of product polymerization in the existing furfural refining process.
3. High volumetric efficiency: The centrifugal extraction machine has the highest volumetric efficiency, which can usually reach 30 to 50 times that of the mixing and clarifying tank.
4. Strong separation ability: Because the centrifugal extractor has strong phase separation ability, its volume is much smaller than the mixing and clarifying tank and the traditional extraction tower under the same output demand.
Therefore, after centrifugal extraction, the furfural phase no longer contains acidic impurities. After distillation, the purity of furfural can reach 99.5% and the moisture content is 0.03%, which meets the quality requirements of the product. This method can improve product quality while reducing operational difficulty.