The aim of this work was to investigate in a bench-scale mixed vessel the influence of temperature, NaOH concentration in the extracting aqueous phase and rotational speed on the batch removal of phenol from a 14.4% solution in methyl isobutyl ketone. To this purpose, temperature was varied in the range 10-40 ->degrees C, the concentration of NaOH between 5.5 and 6.5% and the rotational speed from 400 to 800 rpm. The average residual concentration of phenol in the organic phase was as less as 0.40-1.0%, corresponding to removal efficiencies of 94.0-97.6%, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.