Abstract
Interfacial precipitates from the strip settler of a uranium mill employing tertiary amine solvent extraction were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR spectrophotometry. and elemental analysis. It was revealed that the major solid component is a double salt having the composition (R3NH)3[α-XMo12O40] · 3 (R3NH)Cl, where X = P or As and R = n-octyl or n-decyl. Knowledge of the nature of the interfacial precipitates explained the deteriorating performance of the solvent extraction circuit and assisted in the development of successful measures to control the problem and resume normal operation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 113-122 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Hydrometallurgy |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 1991 |
Funding
Analytical and spectroscopicst udiesi nitiatedat Oak Ridge National Laboratory (BAM) were supportedb y the Division of ChemicalS ciencesO, ffice of Basic Energy SciencesU, S Departmenot f Energy under contractD E-AC05-84OR21400w ith Martin Marietta Energy Systems,I nc. The authors would like to thank Gary Kordosky of Henkel Corporation and M.L. Poutsma of ORNL for helpful commentsin performing this researcha nd in preparing this manuscript.