Decomposition of oxalic acid with nitric acid

Oxalic acid or oxalate is widely used as a precipitant and a detergent in the field of nuclear energy. The present work aimed at developing a method of decomposing oxalic acid with HNO₃ in the presence of Mn²⁺ ion. The use of Mn²⁺ ion as low as 10^?3 mol/l facilitated the complete decomposition of oxalic acid, and the acidity of the resulting solution became as low as 0.1 eq/1 under the optimum conditions. The decomposition of oxalic acid is a first order reaction and proceeds at temperatures above 80°C; the activation energy of the reaction is 18.6 kcal/mol. This decomposition method is applicable to the dissolution of an oxalate precipitate.