Uranium Solvent Extraction and Separation From Vanadium in Alkaline Solutions

Abstract

Quaternary amine could be used to extract uranium from alkaline leach solutions, but third phase formation prevented its application. In this paper, isodecanol was used as the modifier for Aliquat 336 in Shellsol D70 to extract uranium from a carbonate leach solution. The formation of third phase was eliminated. More than 98% of uranium was extracted using 3% (w/v) Aliquat 336 and 3% (w/v) isodecanol in Shellsol D70 from a carbonate leach solution containing 95 mg/L U and 25 mg/L V at pH 10.3 and room temperature in a single contact. The separation factor of uranium over vanadium increased with increasing pH of the auqueous solution and reached 280 at pH 11, indicating a good separation of the two metals. The co-extracted vanadium was scrubbed from the loaded organic solution at pH 11 using a solution containing 50 g/L Na₂CO₃. Over 90% of uranium was stripped from the loaded organic soluiton using an acidic solution containing 150 g/L ammonium sulphate in a single contact. It was also found that to obtain high uranium extraction, the chloride concentration should be controlled to less than 1 g/L in the aqueous phase.

Keywords:

• alkaline solution
• solvent extraction
• uranium
• vanadium

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank Drs Ralph Hackl and Keith Barnard for reviewing this paper and providing valuable comments. The support of the Minerals Down Under National Research is acknowledged.