Since 2004, we have been conducting pilot plant trials with various contactors and different ionic liquids for petrochemical model feeds as well as real refinery feeds. Our pilot plant contains a Rotating Disc Contactor with a height of 6 m and a diameter of 60 mm. Up to 100 kg of ionic liquid and 200 L of feed are applied in experiments. In this paper, the hydrodynamic and mass transfer performance of a rotating disc contactor has been characterized for toluene/n-heptane, a model FCC feed and a real LCCS refinery feed using 3-methyl-N-butyl-pyridinum dicyanamide ([3-mebupy]N(CN)(2)) as the ionic liquid. Experiments with the real LCCS feed demonstrated comparable extraction performance to the model FCC feed. Over the past 5 years, the same batches of the ionic liquid have been repeatedly regenerated by evaporation and reused. Our studies revealed that, although coloration occurs, the extraction performance of the ionic liquids has not changed even after several years of usage. After the real LCCS refinery feed experiments, validation with the toluene/n-heptane model feed confirmed unchanged extraction performance. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Separation Science and Technology to view the free supplemental file.