Effect of long term exposure of aliphatic ELIXORE 205 diluent to acidic and oxidising conditions on copper extraction

The impact of the organic 'ageing' process on copper loading, metal selectivity, extraction and stripping kinetics, phase disengagement times, and aqueous in organic entrainment was also assessed. This was achieved by adding fresh Acorga M5640 (and supplemental diluent as needed) to each degraded organic system to achieve a 10% v/v solution. The properties of these 'aged' solutions were compared to reference solutions containing only fresh extractant and diluent. Relative to the fresh reference solutions, extended exposure to acid conditions had no clear effect for either the diluent-only or the diluent plus extractant degraded systems. A small adverse effect in copper loading was evident in the oxidised diluent-only degraded system. A clear deterioration in performance was evident in the oxidised Acorga M5640-containing degraded system, expected under the very harsh conditions used.