Studies on yttrium permeation through hollow fibre supported liquid membrane from nitrate medium using di-nonyl phenyl phosphoric acid as the carrier phase

The transport behaviour of yttrium from nitrate medium was investigated using dinonyl phenyl phosphoric acid (DNPPA) as a carrier in liquid membrane phase, employing microporous hydrophobic hollow fibre supported liquid membrane (HFSLM) module. The influence of feed composition, carrier concentration, feed acidity, strip acid concentration and flow rate of feed on permeability and flux of Y(III) is discussed. The stripping solution was sulphuric acid solution. Increasing the carrier concentration increased the % transport of yttrium, while an increase in the feed metal concentration decreased the percentage transport. A lower acidity in the feed solution and 3 M H2SO4 concentration in the stripping phase are favourable for the transport process due to the increase of mass transfer driving forces. The % transport of yttrium increased with an increase in flow rates up to 100 mL/min. Under optimized conditions of 0.2 M DNPPA, 1 g/L Y(III), 0.05 M feed acidity, 3 M strip acid (H2SO4) and 100 mL/min flow rate, the % transport of yttrium was more than 95% in 5 h of operation.