Demulsification process

Claim 1

In a liquid membrane process for removing a dissolved component from an aqueous feedstream which comprises contacting said feedstream with a water-inoil emulsion which is characterized as having an exterior phase which is permeable by said dissolved component, an interior phase containing a reagent which reacts with said permeable dissolved component and converts said permeable dissolved component into a non-permeable form, the improvement which comprises contacting said water-in-oil emulsion with said aqueous feedstream for a time and at conditions sufficient to convert a substantial portion of said reagent to the reaction product of said reagent and said dissolved component, separating said water-in-oil emulsion from said aqueous feedstream, demulsifying said water-in-oil emulsion by (1) mixing the emulsion, at a volume ratio of from 1/9 to 9/1, with a mixture of two or more comiscible volatile solvents, at least one of which is an alcohol or a ketone that is miscible with the water and at least one of which is a low boiling hydrocarbon or chlorinated hydrocarbon which is miscible with the oil, the weight ratio of said alcohol or ketone and hydrocarbon being from 1/9 to 9/1 and the oil miscible solvent further characterized as having a boiling point of at least 50° C less than the boiling point of the oil, under conditions of agitation, (2) terminating said agitation and allowing the mixture to separate into an oil and water layer, said water layer comprising substantially all of said reaction product and said unreacted reagent and said oil layer comprising substantially all of the components of the exterior phase of said emulsion, separating said oil and water layers, distilling off said oil miscible solvent from said oil layer, and recycling said oil back to an emulsification zone for use in preparing fresh emulsion.