Method of recovering uranium from wet process phosphoric acid

Patent · Tue Feb 14 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6861146

Asagao, S; Nakagawa, S; Okada, N; Yoshikawa, S

An economically advantageous method of recovering uranium from a wet process phosphoric acid solution comprises the steps of making hemihydrate gypsum contact with the acid solution thereby transferring uranium from the acid solution into the gypsum, dispersing the U-containing gypsum separated from the acid solution in water to convert the gypsum to dihydrate accompanied by the transfer of uranium into water, separating the obtained U-containing aqueous solution from the dihydrate gypsum, and adding precipitant such as an inorganic base to the aqueous solution to form a precipitate comprising an insoluble uranium compound. The contact of hemihydrate gypsum with the phosphoric acid solution is preferably preceded by reduction of hexavalent uranium in the acid solution to tetravalent uranium, and can be achieved either by adding hemihydrate gypsum to the acid solution or by converting dihydrate gypsum to hemihydrate within the acid solution preferably preceded by the addition of sulfuric acid.

• Assignee: Central Glass Company Limited (Japan)
• Patent Number(s): US 4431610
• OSTI ID: 6861146
• Resource Relation: Patent Priority Date: Priority date 23 Feb 1981, Japan; Other Information: PAT-APPL-351171
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
URANIUM
PRECIPITATION
RECOVERY
VALENCE
AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS
FILTRATION
GYPSUM
HYDRATES
HYDRATION
PHOSPHORIC ACID
PROCESS SOLUTIONS
RECYCLING
REDUCTION
SULFURIC ACID
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM SULFATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
METALS
MINERALS
MIXTURES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLUTIONS
SOLVATION
SULFATE MINERALS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
050400* - Nuclear Fuels- Feed Processing