ECI Digital Archives

Title

Simultaneous Recovery of Rare Earths and Uranium from Wet Process Phosphoric Acid Using Solvent Extraction with D2EHP

Authors

Shengxi Wu, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, ChinaFollow
Xiaowei Huang, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, China
Longsheng Zhao, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, China
Lifeng Zhang, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, China
Zongyu Feng, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, China
Liangshi Wang, National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials, General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals, Beijing, China
Patrick Zhang, Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute, Bartow, FL, USA
Hassan El-Shall, Particle Engineering Research Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Brij Moudgil, Particle Engineering Research Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

Conference Dates

April 29-May 4, 2018

Abstract

In most cases, wet-process phosphoric acid (WPA) contains trace amount of rare earth elements and uranium, which ultimately enter and accumulate in soil and may cause environmental damages. In order to remove and recover these elements, studies about solvent extraction of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) and uranium (U) with D2EHPA, selective stripping of HREEs from U, and evaporation precipitation of light rare earth elements (LREEs) were investigated. Extraction efficiency of U from WPA was greatly enhanced, but HREEs extraction were significantly retarded when using the solvent mixture of di- (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and tri-butyl-phosphate (TBP) or tri-octyl-phosphine oxide (TOPO) compared with D2EHPA alone. 89.4% and 94.2% accumulative two-stage extraction efficiencies of HREEs and U, respectively, were achieved with 1.0 M D2EHPA alone. And more than 98.1% HREEs were selectively stripped from loaded D2EHPA with 6.0 M HCl via three stages. In addition, LREEs were enriched to 1204.3 μg/g in evaporation sludge during the concentration process of phosphoric acid from 30% to 50% P2O5, and the filtration performance was greatly improved. Based on the studies, an alternative process was developed to recover and group LREEs, HREEs and U during the phosphoric acid production.

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Recommended Citation

Shengxi Wu, Xiaowei Huang, Longsheng Zhao, Lifeng Zhang, Zongyu Feng, Liangshi Wang, Patrick Zhang, Hassan El-Shall, and Brij Moudgil, "Simultaneous Recovery of Rare Earths and Uranium from Wet Process Phosphoric Acid Using Solvent Extraction with D2EHP" in "Beneficiation of Phosphates VIII", Dr. Patrick Zhang, Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute, USA Professor Jan Miller, University of Utah, USA Professor Laurindo Leal Filho, Vale Institute of Technology (ITV), Brazil Marius Porteus, Foskor-Mining Division, South Africa Professor Neil Snyders, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Mr. Ewan Wingate, WorleyParsons Services Pty Ltd., Australia Prof. Guven Akdogan, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Eds, ECI Symposium Series, (2018). https://dc.engconfintl.org/phosphates_viii/34