Abstract
Uranium (VI) extraction from nitric acid medium by 20% Tri Butyl Phosphate (TBP)/dodecane was carried out. The effects of the nature of the diluent and nitric acid concentration on uranium distribution ratio (Du) were investigated in this study. The experimental results showed that Du using different diluents increases in the order: chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, dodecane and n-hexane. The yellow cake [Di-Ammonium Uranyl U2O_7(NH4)2] produced at the Uranium Recovery Pilot-Plant from the Syrian row phosphoric acid was used to carry out uranium extraction tests, using 20% TBP/dodecane. Results showed that impurities presented in the yellow cake role as a salting out agent, which explains the increasing of loading capacity of the organic phase. Infrared studies of UO_2(NO3)2/ 20%TBP in dodecane system are reported, uranium was extracted from aqueous solutions of 3 mol/dm3 HNO3 containing different Analytical Grade uranyl nitrate concentrations. Infrared spectra of UO2(NO3)2. 2TBP system indicated that chelation of nitrate to uranyl ion is bidentate. Quantitative analysis of TBP-uranyl nitrate complex in dodecane in the regions of P=O and U=O stretching vibrations is discussed.
Highlights
The purification of crude uranium from its ores at plant-scale using tri butyl phosphate (TBP) started in the early 1950s in Canada and in the UK, in the US in 1953 [1].Today, TBP extraction technology and processes are applied word-wide for uranium and thorium purification
The spectra of organic phases, for the system UO2(NO3)2/20%TBP in Dodecane have been interpreted by several investigators, where they concluded that, the P-O-C vibration at 1021 cm−1 is not affected by acid and metal content in the organic phase, and the P=O vibration band was shifted to 1191 cm−1 due to the coordination of UO22+ cation as well as, to dimeric nitric acid species [3,4,7]
Organic solutions of 20 % TBP in chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and n-hexane instead of dodecane were contacted with equal volume of 3 mol/dm3 HNO3 solutions containing increasing uranium(VI) concentrations (15, 25, 35, 45, 55) g/dm3to investigate the effect of the nature of the diluents on uranium distribution (Du)
Summary
The purification of crude uranium from its ores at plant-scale using tri butyl phosphate (TBP) started in the early 1950s in Canada and in the UK, in the US in 1953 [1].Today, TBP extraction technology and processes are applied word-wide for uranium and thorium purification. To determine the effect of the acid medium concentration on uranium distribution, solutions of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 5.0 mol/dm3 of nitric acid containing 55 g/dm3uranium were prepared and contacted with 20% TBP in dodecane.
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