The use of 5-(4-pyridyl)nonane for the separation of chromium(vi) from fission products in hydrochloric acid media

The distribution of chromium(VI) between 5-(4-pyridyl)nonane in benzene and hydrochloric acid media has been studied as a function of the concentration of the acid, extractant, chromium(VI), chloride and a few other ions. The extraction mechanism and the composition of the extracted complexes of Cr(VI) have been proposed. The separation of Cr(VI) from uranium, thorium and fission products in 3M hydrochloric acid has been achieved.     

Recovery of uranium and thorium from zirconium oxychloride by solvent extraction

A solvent extraction process is proposed to recover uranium and thorium from the crystal waste solutions of zirconium oxychloride. The extraction of iron from hydrochloride medium with P350, the extraction of uranium from hydrochloride with N235, and the extraction of thorium from the mixture solutions of nitric acid and the hydrochloric acid with P350 was investigated. The optimum extraction conditions were evaluated with synthetic solutions by studying the parameters of extractant concentration and acidity. The optimum separation conditions for Fe (III) are recognized as 30% P350 and 4.5 to 6.0 M HCl. The optimum extraction conditions for U (VI) are recognized as 25% N235 and 4.5 to 6.0 M HCl. And the optimum extraction conditions for Th (VI) are recognized as 30% P350 and 2.5 to 3.5 M HNO₃ in the mixture solutions. The recovery of uranium and thorium from the crystal waste solutions of zirconium oxychloride was investigated also. The results indicate that the recoveries of uranium and thorium are 92 and 86%, respectively.     

Chemical analysis of manganese nodules : Part II. Determination of uranium and thorium after anion-exchange separation

A method is described for the determination of uranium and thorium in manganese nodules. After dissolution of the sample in a mixture of perchloric and hydrofluoric acids, uranium is adsorbed on the strongly basic anion-exchange resin Dowex 1 (chloride form) from 6 M hydrochloric acid. The effluent is evaporated and the residue is taken up in 7 M nitric acid—0.25 M oxalic acid; thorium is then isolated quantitatively by anion-exchange on Dowex 1 (nitrate form). Thorium is eluted with 6 M hydrochloric acid and determined spectrophotometrically by the arsenazo III method. Uranium is eluted from the resin in the chloride form with 1 M hydrochloric acid and then separated from iron, molybdenum and other co-eluted elements on a column of Dowex 1 (chloride form); the medium consists of 50% (v/v) tetrahydrofuran, 40% (v/v) methyl glycol and 10% (vv) 6 M hydrochloric acid. After removal of iron and molybdenum by washing the resin with a mixture of the same composition and with pure aqueous 1 M hydrochloric acid, the adsorbed uranium is eluted with 1 M hydrochloric acid and determined by fluorimetry. The method was used successfully for the determination of ppm-quantities of uranium and thorium in 60 samples of manganese nodules from the Pacific Ocean.     

Application of ion-exchange separations to determination of trace elements in natural waters-IX: simultaneous isolation and determination of uranium and thorium

A method is described for the determination of uranium and thorium in samples of natural waters. After acidification with citric acid the water sample is filtered and sodium citrate and ascorbic acid are added. The resulting solution of pH 3 is passed through a 4-g column of Dowex 1 x 8 (citrate form) on which both uranium and thorium are adsorbed as anionic citrate complexes. Thorium is eluted with 8M hydrochloric acid and separated from co-eluted substances by anion-exchange in 8M nitric acid medium on a separate 2-g column of the same resin in the nitrate form. After complete removal of iron by washing with a mixture consisting of IBMK, acetone and 1M hydrochloric acid (1:8:1 v v ) and treatment of the resin with 6M hydrochloric acid, the uranium is eluted from the 4-g column with 1M hydrochloric acid. In the eluate thorium is determined spectrophotometrically (arsenazo III method) while fluorimetry is employed for the assay of uranium. The procedure was used for the determination of uranium and thorium in numerous water samples collected in Austria, including samples of mineral-waters. The results indicate that a simple relationship exists between the uranium and thorium contents of waters which makes it possible to calculate the approximate thorium content of a sample on the basis of its uranium concentration and vice versa.     

Spectrophotometric determination of zirconium, uranium, thorium and rare earths with arsenazo III after extractions with thenoyltrifluoroacetone and tri-n-octylamine

A method is described for the spectrophotometric determination of microgram amounts of zirconium, uranium(VI), thorium and rare earths with Arsenazo III after systematic separation by extraction. First zirconium is extracted into a xylene solution of thenoyltrifluoroacetone (TTA) from about 4M hydrochloric acid. Uranium(VI) is then extracted into a xylene solution of tri-n-octy lamine from about 4M hydrochloric acid. Thorium is next extracted into TTA solution at pH about 1.5, and finally rare earths are extracted into TTA solution at pH about 4.7. Each metal is back-extracted from the organic phase before determination.     

Extractive separation of Th(IV), U(VI), Ti(IV), La(III) and Fe(III) from Zarigan ore

In this study, the effects of various extraction parameters such as extractant types (Cyanex302, Cyanex272, TBP), acid type (nitric, sulfuric, hydrochloric) and their concentrations were studied on the thorium separation efficiency from uranium(VI), titanium(IV), lanthanum(III), iron(III) using Taguchi^??s method. Results showed that, all these variables had significant effects on the selective thorium separation. The optimum separations of thorium from uranium, titanium and iron were achieved by Cyanex302. The aqueous solutions of 0.01 and 1 M nitric acid were found as the best aqueous conditions for separating of thorium from titanium (or iron) and uranium, respectively. The combination of 0.01 M nitric acid and Cyanex272 were found that to be the optimum conditions for the selective separation of thorium from lanthanum. The results also showed that TBP could selectively extract all studied elements into organic phase leaving thorium behind in the aqueous phase. Detailed experiments showed that 0.5 M HNO₃ is the optimum acid concentration for separating of thorium from other elements with acidic extractants such as Cyanex272 and Cyanex302. The two-stage process containing TBP-Cyanex302 was proposed for separation thorium and uranium from Zarigan ore leachate.     

Further study of extraction equilibrium of uranium(VI) with dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 and its application to separating uranium and thorium

In our publication (1), the extraction of uranium with dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (mixed isomers) has been described. The extraction equilibrium of uranium(VI) from aqueous hydrochloric acid solution with dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 isomer A (Ia) and isomer B (Ib) in 1,2-dichloroethane is presented in this paper. The extracted species are found to be 1:2 (metal/crown) for Ia and 2:3 for Ib from slope analysis and direct determination of extracted complexes. The extraction equilibrium constants (Kex) have been determined at 25°C, and equal 29.5 for the former and 0.208 for the latter. It is concluded that Ia has stronger coordinate ability for uranium than Ib. The different orientation of the lone pairs of the oxygen atoms in both isomers will be taken into account for interpreting above results. The extraction of uranium(VI) with dicyclohexano-18-crown-6 (mixed isomers) or Ia from aqueous hydrochloric acid solution is effective and selective. In 0.1M crown ether-1,2-dichloroethane-6N HCl system, the separation factor U(VI)/Th(IV) exceeds 1000. The result can be taken in separating uranium and thorium.     

Method of separating uranium from iron and thorium

Acid leaching of uranium deposits is not a selective process. Sulfuric acid solubilizes iron(III) and half or more of the thorium depending on the mineralog of this element. In uranium recovery by solvent extraction process, uranium is separated from iron by an organic phase consisting of 10 vol% tributylphosphate(TBP) in kerosine diluent. Provided that the aqueous phase is saturated with ammonium nitrate or made 4–5 M in nitric acid prior to extraction. Nitric acid or ammonium nitrate is added to the leach solution in order to obtain a uranyl nitrate product. Leach solutions containing thorium(IV) besides iron are treated in an analogous fashion. Uranium can be extracted away from thorium using 10 vol% TBP in kerosine diluent. The aqueous phase should be saturated with ammonium nitrate and the pH of the solution lowered to 0.5 with sufficient amount of sulfuric acid. In other words, the separation of uranium and thorium depends on the way the relative distributions of the two materials between aqueous solutions and TBP vary with sulfuric acid concentration. Thorium is later recovered from the waste leach liquor, after removal of sulfate ions. Uranium can be stripped from the organic phase by distilled water, and precipitated as ammonium diuranate.     

Separation and spectrophotometric determination of thorium contained in uranium concentrate

A method for the determination of thorium in uranium concentrate by spectrophotometry with Arsenazo III has been developed. Preliminary solvent extraction procedures were used to eliminate interfering species. Samples were dissolved in nitric, perchloric and sulfuric acid and the uranium extracted from the solution using tri-octylamine. The aqueous layer was evaporated to dryness and the residue re-dissolved with hydrochloric acid, thorium was extracted by tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide and stripped with oxalic acid. For a typical uranium concentrate produced from the phosphate rock of Itataia, Brazil, concentrations of thorium as low as 5 g·g^-1 can be determined.     

Separation of uranium(VI) as chloride complex by solvent extraction with dicyclohexyl-18-crown-6

Uranium(VI) was quantitatively extracted from 6 to 8M hydrochloric acid with 0.02M DC-18-crown-6 in chloroform. It was stripped from the organic phase with 0.5M hydrochloric acid and determined as its Arsenazo-III complex at 665 nm. Uranium(VI) was separated from several elements such as thorium, zirconium, scandium, yttrium, thallium and tin in complex mixtures. The method was extended for analysis of uranium in monazite and rock sample.     

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban-Treaty and the radiological risk to on-site inspection teams

The solvent extraction behavior of thorium traces from the hydrochloric acid media with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolone (PMBP) is described using ²³⁴Th as a tracer. The influence of certain variables such as extractant concentration, acidity, equilibrium time as well as UO₂ ²⁺ ions on the extraction of thorium has been investigated systematically. The back-extraction behavior of thorium from the organic phase has also been tested. The results reveal that the percent extraction of ²³⁴Th decreases with increasing hydrochloric acid concentration and thorium is easily back-extracted with an 4-6 mol/l aqueous HCl solution. At the same time, the effect of thorium extraction with PMBP was tested employing radioisotopes as multi-tracers in the irradiation of natural uranium with 14-15 MeV neutrons. The results show that thorium can be completely separated from a large amount of uranium and most of the other main reaction products.     

Solvent extraction separation of hafnium with 4-methyl-3-pentene-2-one

A new method for the extractive separation of hafnium from zirconium is presented. Zirconium is extracted with pure mesityl oxide from 4M nitric acid/4M sodium nitrate medium, followed by extraction of hafnium with mesityl oxide from 0.4M hydrochloric acid/2M ammonium thiocyanate medium. It is possible to accomplish clean separations of Hf from Zr in ratios from 1:20 to 1:200. The separation of hafnium from commonly associated elements such as scandium, yttrium, uranium, thorium, alkali and alkaline earth metals in 500:1 weight ratio to hafnium is also possible.     

Liquid-liquid extraction of zirconium with tri-n-butyl-acetohydroxamic acid and spectrophotometric determination in the organic phase with xylenol orange

Zirconium (6–121 μg) is determined with xylenol orange after liquid-liquid extraction by tri-n-butylacetohydroxamic acid (TBAH) from 6 M hydrochloric acid. Under optimal conditions (primarily, 1 1:1.5 ratio of TBAH to xylenol orange, addition of acetic acid, and measurement at 545 nm), the calibration is linear with a molar absorptivity of 34 650 l mol^?1 cm^?1. Ions which are not extracted by TBAH or donot form coloured complexes do not interfere; these include uranium and rare-earth elements. Hafnium interferes; interference from thorium is avoided by a preliminary extraction of zirconium with tri-n-octylamine.     

Extraction studies of thorium(IV) with triphenylphosphine oxide

A simple method is described for the solvent extraction of thorium. Thorium is extracted quantitatively from 5·10^–3M sodium salicylate solution at pH 2.5–3.25 using 2.16·10^–2M triphenylphosphine oxide as an extractant dissolved in toluene. The extracted metal ion is stripped with hydrochloric acid (0.1M) and determined spectrophotometrically with Thoron-1 at 540 nm. The method permits separation of thorium from lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, samarium and uranium from binary mixtures and is applicable to the analysis of monazite sand. The method is precise, accurate and selective.     

Separation of selenium(IV) and tellurium(IV) from mixtures by extraction chromatography with trioctylphosphine oxide

The reversed-phase extraction chromatographic separation of selenium(IV) and tellurium(IV) from several elements with trioctylphosphine oxide as extractant is reported. Selenium was extracted from 6M hydrochloric acid containing 7M lithium chloride was stripped with 4M hydrochloric acid, and tellurium was extracted from either the same medium as selenium or from 4M hydrochloric acid, and stripped with 1-2M hydrochloric acid. Selenium and tellurium can be separated from multicomponent mixtures.     

Liquid-liquid extraction of Th4+ and UO 2 2+ by LIX-26 and its mixtures

Solvent extractions of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) by a commercially available chelating extractant LIX-26 (an alkylated 8-hydroxyquinoline) or 8-hydroxyquinoline, benzoic or salicylic acid, dipentyl sulphoxide (DPSO) and their mixtures with butanol as modifier in benzene/methylisobutyl ketone (MIBK) as the diluent have been studied. Extraction of uranium(VI) by 10% LIX-26 and 10% butanol in benzene becomes quantitative at pH 5.0. The pH 0.5 values for the extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) are 4.95 and 3.35, respectively. Quantitative extraction of thorium(IV) by the mixture of 0.1 M oxine and 0.1 M salicylic acid in methylisobutyl ketone was observed at pH 5.0. The influence of concentration of various anions on the extraction of Th⁴⁺ by mixtures of LIX-26 and benzoic acid has been studied. Studies on extraction of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) by mixtures of LIX-26 (HQ) and DPSO show that the extracted species are possibly of the type [ThQ₂/DPSO/₂/SCN/₂] and [UO₂Q₂/DPSO/], respectively.     

Liquid-liquid extraction separation of uranium(VI) from associated elements using dibenzo-24-crown-8 from hydrobromic acid medium

Liquid-liquid extraction of uranium (VI) from hydrobromic acid solutions with dibenzo-24-crown-8 in nitrobenzene have been investigated. Uranium(VI) was quantitatively extracted from 6.0–8.0M hydrobromic acid with 0.001–0.01M dibenzo-24-crown-8 and was quantitatively stripped from the organic phase with 0.1–1.0M hydrochloric acid, 0.5–10M nitric acid, 2–10M perchloric acid, 3.0–10M sulfuric acid or 3.0–10M acetic acid. It was possible to separate uranium(VI) from a number of elements in binary mixtures. Most of the elements showed very high tolerance limit Uranium(VI) was also separated from a number of associated elements in multicomponent mixtures. The method is very simple, selective, rapid and highly reproducible (approximately±2%) and was applied to the analysis of uranium in geological samples.     

Successive complexometric determination of thorium and uranium in sulphuric acid media

A selective analytical extraction method for rapid successive complexometric determination of thorium(IV) and uranium(VI) in sulphuric acid media is described. The method is based on the extraction of thorium and uranium from sulphuric acid media with N-butylaniline or N-benzylaniline in chloroform. Both thorium and uranium are selectively and quantitatively extracted in the presence of ascorbic acid and EDTA. Most cations and anions do not interfere. The reduction of uranium(VI) with sodium dithionite at room temperature is rapid and quantitative and superior to that with ascorbic acid, which reduces uranium(VI) in boiling solution. The method is simple, rapid and accurate, and the experimental conditions are not highly critical.     

Separation of trace concentrations of tantalum from niobium and some other heavy metal ions by extraction with N-oxide of trioctylamine

The distribution of tantalum(V) between 0.1M trioctylamine oxide dissolved in xylene and sulphuric acid solutions has been studied. On the basis of results on the distribution, it is concluded that at sulphuric acid concentration 0.5M, tantalum is probably extracted by a solvate mechanism as the complex Ta(OH) (SO₄)₂·3TOAO. It has also been shown that tantalum can be quantitatively separated from niobium, uranium, thorium and rare earth elements by extraction with N-oxide of trioctylamine from 0.5M sulphuric acid solution.     

Actinide and lanthanide extraction from nitric acid solutions by flotation

Flotation of thorium, plutonium (IV), uranium(VI) and gadolinium from aqueous nitric acid solutions (HNO₃ concentration from 0.01 to 5.0M) was investigated using lauryl phosphoric acid (LPA) as a SAS-collector. It is established that the extent of removal of the metal ions increases with the amount of LPA introduced, regardless of the solution acidity. At a fixed mole LPA to metal ratio the extent of uranium(VI) and gadolinium removal is reduced with increasing acidity, while in case of plutonium(IV) and thorium this parameter remains constant. It is shown that in principle 100% extraction of plutonium(IV) and thorium by flotation is possible regardless of the acidity of aqueous solutions. Ca(NO₃)₂ added to the system in the amount of 0.5M does not significantly affect the flotation extraction of thorium.