Solvent Extraction of Metals Nuclear Chemical Engineering NCE Dr. Zawar Ahmad Khan Lecture 1-2CHAPTER FOUR SOLVENT EXTRACTION OF METALS1 APPLICATIONS Solvent extraction is the industrial-scale method preferred for purifying natural uranium, separating zirconium from hafnium [H3, H4, Pl, $2], separating natural thorium from rare earths, and separating fissionable material, fertile material, and fission products in spent reactor fuel [H1]. For example, solvent, extraction processes have been developed for separating ™U from fission products {C8, C9, U1], and for separating uranium, plutonium, and fission products [G3]. The successful application of solvent extraction to these separations of importance in nuclear technology has stimulated its application to other metals, for example, to separating rare earths from one another [Il], cobalt from nickel (G5, R3], and tantalum from niobium [W3]. Table 4.1 summarizes some of the applications of solvent extraction to separating metals ‘on an industrial scale and gives the solvents used and agents added to the aqueous phase to promote extraction or separation. The value of solvent extraction arises from the ease with which it lends itself to multistage operation without increased consumption of heat or chemicals. This makes solvent extraction particularly useful when either extreme purification is necessary or when the metals are so similar in their properties that a single precipitation or crystallization would not give the requisite degree of separation. Ton exchange is another method that lends itself to multistage operation. Generally speaking, solvent extraction is preferable when large amounts of metals are to be separated, and ion exchange is preferable for small quantities or low concentations or for separating the alkalies or alkaline earths, to which solvent extraction is not readily applicable.