Abstract: Emulsification solvent extraction（ESE） is an effective intensive mechanism to strengthen solvent extraction， which can greatly shorten the reaction time，reduce the floor space for equipments，and improve the efficiency of extraction. However，the bottleneck of the technique is how to demulsify of water-in-oil emulsion effectively.The demulsification methods of gravity and stirring were studied.Their demulsification mechanisms，efficiency，microscope images，and droplet distribution of emulsion were investigated.Results show that the combination of the two methods demulsified well.Compared with the emulsion，the obvious phase interface exists in the two phases after demulsification，and the number of suspended droplets decreases dramatically，droplet size gets significantly larger，and distribution becomes narrow of continuous phase.The demulsification rate can reach 96% and the critical droplet size was 15 μm under the suitable operating conditions：stirring speed was 180 r/min，stirring time was 5 min，and standing time was 8 min.

Key words: emulsification solvent extraction, demulsification, gravity sedimentation, stirring, droplet