Uranium extraction from purified wet process Jordanian phosphoric acid: a development study

Abstract

A study on the physical properties, liquid–liquid equilibrium and the performance of a pulsed sieve plate column was conducted using the system: Jordanian purified filter phosphoric acid (28% P₂O₅)–uranium–0.5 M DEPA–0.125 M TOPO diluted in kerosene. Density and surface tension were found to follow simple negative linear relationship with temperature while an Arrhenius type model was adequate to fit the viscosity dependence on temperature.

The effect of electromotive force (EMF) on the uranium distribution coefficient was studied and a practical limit of oxidation of the uranium was found to be in the range 400–410 mV. Vant Hoff equation was found to adequately describe the dependence of uranium distribution coefficient on temperature. Uranium distribution coefficients obtained for the Jordanian acid were higher than reported data for other acids, with distribution coefficients as high as 6.0 obtained at about 45°C.

A preliminary evaluation of the performance of a pulsed sieve plate column was conducted and yielded promising results for the application of such contactors in this field. Recoveries of 90% were obtained at moderate pulsation intensities. Solvent entrainment results indicate that about 1900 ppm of the solvent is lost to the acid, which is higher than that for mixer settlers.