Abstract
The Savannah River Plant uses a modified Purex process to recover enriched uranium and separate fission products. This process uses 7.5% tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) dissolved in normal paraffin hydrocarbons for the solvent extraction of a nitric acid solution containing the materials to be separated. Periodic problems in product decontamination result from solvent degradation. A study to improve process efficiency has identified certain solvent degradation products and suggested mitigation measures. Undecanoic acid, lauric acid, and tridecanoic acid were tentatively identified as diluent degradation products in recycle solvent. These long-chain organic acids affect phase separation and lead to low decontamination factors. Solid phase extraction (SPE) was used to concentrate the organic acids in solvent prior to analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). SPE and HPLC methods were optimized in this work for analysis of decanoic acid, undecanoic acid, and lauric acid in solvent. Accelerated solvent degradation studies with 7.5% TBP in normal paraffin hydrocarbons showed that long-chain organic acids and long-chain alkyl butyl phosphoric acids are formed by reactions with nitric acid. Degradation of both tributyl phosphate and hydrocarbon can be minimized with purified normal paraffin replacing the standard grade presently used. 12 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.
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