Process Development and Laboratory-Scale Demonstration of a Regular-SANEX Process Using C5-BPP (2,6-Bis(5-(2,2-dimethylpropyl)-1H-pyrazol-3-yl)pyridine)

Abstract

An optimized solvent comprising 0.01 mol/L C5-BPP + 0.5 mol/L 2-bromo-hexanoic acid in TPH with 10% 1-octanol was developed for the selective extraction of trivalent actinides from lanthanides. Equilibrium extraction data and kinetics of the system in extraction, scrubbing and stripping modes were evaluated and a 16-stage flow-sheet was successfully tested in a spiked centrifugal contactor demonstration. It turned out that 16 stages were insufficient for a complete recovery of An(III), although a clean An(III) product was obtained. The high selectivity of C5-BPP for An(III) was shown. The results of the spiked centrifugal contactor test are presented and discussed.