Evaluation of mass transfer performance of uranium extraction from sulfate medium of Bandar Abbas with Alamine 336 in horizontal pulsed column by using axial dispersion model

Abstract

In this study, the mass transfer performance of the Horizontal pulsed sieve plate column for the extraction of uranium from Bandar Abbas sulfate leach solution with Alamine 336 was investigated using a dispersion model. The organic phase contained 6% (v/v) Alamine 336 as extractant and 5% (v/v) isodecanol as a modifier in kerosene as diluent. The sulfate solution of Bandar Abbas containing 0.22 M sulfate and 250 ppm Uranium was used as the aqueous phase. The axial dispersion model was used to determine the mass transfer parameters and modeling of this system. Also, the effect of operating parameters such as pulsation intensity, the rate of phases flow on the volumetric overall mass transfer parameters was investigated; namely total volumetric coefficients of continuous phase mass transfer (Koca) and axial scattering coefficients of continuous and scattered phase (Ec and Ed). The obtained results showed that the mass transfer parameters are strongly dependent on the pulse intensity and turbulence degree of the system. In addition, the mass transfer performance of this column is high for the uranium extraction from sulfate leach liquors. Moreover, the practical and novel correlations have been determined for prognostication of mass transfer parameters which are closely matched with the experimental results in the horizontal pulsed column.

Keywords

• horizontal pulsed column
• alamine 336
• sulfate leach liquor of bandar abbas
• mass transfer
• modeling