ALINA process

Mono- and disulfur substitutes of diesters of phosphoric acids, phosphonic acids, and phosphinic acids, possessing soft-donor atoms in their structures, present large An(III)/Ln(III) selectivities, especially the dialkyl-dithiophosphinic acid used in the Chinese CYANEX 301 process or its chlorophenyl derivative used in the German ALINA process. 

FIGURE 3.23 ALINA process flowsheet tested at the FZJ on a surrogate DIAMEX product. (Courtesy of Modolo, G., Odoj, R., Baron, P., Global 1999 Nuclear Technology - Bridging the Millennia, August-September 1999, Jackson Hole, WY.)... 

The ALINA process has also been implemented in HFMs at the INE. The mass-transfer kinetics appeared fast, and an Am(III) extraction efficiency exceeding 99.9% was observed (156, 203). 

Historically, pairs of processes have been developed throughout the world to achieve An(III)/Ln(III) partitioning TRUEX + TALSPEAK in the United States, TRPO + CYANEX in China, DIDPA + DIDPA in Japan, and DIAMEX + BTP or DIAMEX + ALINA in Europe, but cross combinations of processes are possible. The one-cycle processes (e.g., SETFICS and DIAMEX-SANEX/HDEHP) appear more attractive and more compact than the two-cycle processes, as they do not use two different solvent loops to carry out the separation of An(III) from Ln(III), but they sometimes generate much larger aqueous streams than the feed input. 

FIGURE 14.14 Normalized I/Kc signatures as functions of time starting with the time the enzymes were introduced in the polymer solution. A two-step process is observed in the degradation process, when a-amylase and amyloglucosidase were used a very fast rate for the first 10-15 min, followed by a slow part, which occurs during 2-3 h. In the case of isoamylase, the degradation reaction has a constant slow rate for the whole duration of the experiment (unpublished data, Alina Alb). 

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