Separation of uranium (VI) using dispersive liquid-liquid extraction from leach liquor

A dispersive liquid-liquid extraction technique was applied for evaluation of optimal conditions of uranium (VI) separation from aqueous solution (It is actual leach liquor, containing uranium (VI), thorium (IV), iron (III), Cl−, SO42−, etc). In this procedure, an appropriate mixture of the disperser and extraction solvents was added rapidly to the aqueous sample containing uranium ion; as a result, a cloudy solution was formed which consisted of fine droplets of extraction solvent dispersed entirely throughout the aqueous phase. The cloudy solution was centrifuged and the fine droplets of the extraction solvent were settled at the bottom of the conical test tube. The analytes were extracted from the source solution into the receiving phase and were concentrated to a small volume of the settled phase and finally, the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry was used to determine the analyte concentration in the settled phase. The conditions for the batch extraction performance were optimized; Furthermore, the continuous packed tower with 5 cm of diameter and 30 cm of height was applied to examine the batch results of continuous condition on an industrial-scale. The results showed that for 41.2% and 90% recovery factors of uranium (VI) from the leach liquor solution, one equilibrium stage and five equilibrium stages are needed, respectively.