Concentration of heavy metals by predispersed solvent extraction

This paper discusses a new method to recover and purify solutions containing dissolved metals. The method depends upon dispersion of the solvent prior to contacting the solution to be extracted. In the past, minutely subdividing the solvent has proven impractical because of the slow rate at which minute particles rise by buoyancy. Now it has become feasible to transport small globules of solvent by a allowing them to attach to much larger gas bubbles, which rise quickly to the surface and separate cleanly. This technique makes possible the removal of metals down to the parts-per-billion range