Development of Phenols Recovery process from coal gasification wastewater with mesityl oxide as a novel extractant

The extractant has a great influence on the performance and economy of the Phenols Recovery processes for treating coal-gasification wastewater. Meanwhile, computer-aided screening techniques have been applied to discern candidate solvents from the molecular perspective. In this paper, mesityl oxide, as a novel extractant, is found with high phenols removal efficiency through quantum chemical calculations. To confirm that, the removal performance with three different solvents (diisopropyl ether (DIPE), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and mesityl oxide) are investigated and compared via multi-stage counter-current extraction experiments. The experimental results identified that the performance using mesityl oxide as solvent is better than that using DIPE and MIBK. The total phenols concentration can be reduced from more than 5000 mg/L to less than 250 mg/L. Then, Phenols Recovery process using mesityl oxide as solvent is developed and conceptual designed. In view of the better performance and lower cost, mesityl oxide is a very promising extractant for the removal of phenols.