Uranium from phosphate ores

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6352575

Hurst, F J

Phosphate rock, the major raw material for phosphate fertilizers, contains uranium that can be recovered when the rock is processed. This makes it possible to produce uranium in a country that has no uranium ore deposits. The author briefly describes the way that phosphate fertilizers are made, how uranium is recovered in the phosphate industry, and how to detect uranium recovery operations in a phosphate plant. Uranium recovery from the wet-process phosphoric acid involves three unit operations: (1) pretreatment to prepare the acid; (2) solvent extraction to concentrate the uranium; (3) post treatment to insure that the acid returning to the acid plant will not be harmful downstream. There are 3 extractants that are capable of extracting uranium from phosphoric acid. The pyro or OPPA process uses a pyrophosphoric acid that is prepared on site by reacting an organic alcohol (usually capryl alcohol) with phosphorous pentoxide. The DEPA-TOPO process uses a mixture of di(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEPA) and trioctyl phosphine oxide (TOPO). The components can be bought separately or as a mixture. The OPAP process uses octylphenyl acid phosphate, a commercially available mixture of mono- and dioctylphenyl phosphoric acids. All three extractants are dissolved in kerosene-type diluents for process use.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 6352575
• Report Number(s): CONF-830225-1; ON: DE83009832
• Resource Relation: Conference: Nuclear fuel cycle information workshop, Oak Ridge, TN, USA, 15 Feb 1983
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
37 INORGANIC
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
FERTILIZER INDUSTRY
BY-PRODUCTS
FERTILIZERS
PRODUCTION
URANIUM
RECOVERY
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
HDEHP
KEROSENE
PHOSPHATE ROCKS
PHOSPHORIC ACID ESTERS
RAW MATERIALS
TOPO
ACTINIDES
ELEMENTS
ESTERS
EXTRACTION
FUELS
INDUSTRY
LIQUID FUELS
MATERIALS
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
050400* - Nuclear Fuels- Feed Processing
400105 - Separation Procedures