Columns pulsed mixer settlers

Stagewise contact with controlled coalescence redispersion cycles Tray column Pulsed sieve column. Pulsed Mixer-Settler-cascade, Extraction tower with controlled cycle Scheibel column, ARD-Extractor, Leisibach column, Mixer-Settler cascade ... 

FIG. 23-38 Efficiency and capacity range of small-diameter extractors, 50 to 150 mm diameter. Acetone extracted from water with toluene as the disperse phase, V /V = 1.5. Code AC = agitated cell PPC = pulsed packed column PST = pulsed sieve tray RDC = rotating disk contactor PC = packed column MS = mixer-settler ST = sieve tray. (Stichlmair, Chem. Ing. Tech. 52(3), 253-255 [1980]). 

Code AC (Agitated CeU) - PTC (Pulsed Packed Cdumn) - PST (Pulsed Sieve Tray) - RDC (Rotating-Disc Contactor - PC (Pecked Column) - MS (Mixer Settler) - ST (Sieve Tray)... 

In the case of large throughputs, pulse-type sieve plate columns or mixer-settlers are used as extraction apparatuses both for this process step and for the later extraction steps. 

Chemical Separation. Both the Magnox and THORP plants employ solvent extraction methods using TBP/OK (tributyl phosphate/odorless kerosene) to separate out the fission products and uranium and plutonium components of the dissolver liquor. In the case of the Magnox plant, this is done entirely using mixer settlers in THORP, a combination of pulsed columns and mixer settlers are employed. In both plants the overall process produces separate purified aqueous streams of uranyl nitrate and plutonium nitrate, which are subsequently treated to produce the respective oxide forms ... 

Movsowitz, R. L., Kleinberger, R., Buchalter, E. M., Grinbaum, B., and Hall, S. 2001. Comparison of the performance of full-scale pulsed columns versus mixer-settlers for uranium solvent extraction. In Proceedings international solvent extraction conference, vol. 2, eds. M. Cox, M. Hidalgo, and M. Valiente, 1455-1460. London Society of Chemical Industry. 

While solvent extraction is often done on a small scale by synthetic lab chemists using a separatory funnel or Craig apparatus, it is normally done on the industrial scale using machines that bring the two liquid phases into contact with each other. Such machines include centrifugal contactors, thin layer extractors, spray columns, pulsed columns, and mixer-settlers. 

Special safety constraints apply to equipment selection, design, and operation in nuclear reprocessing (269). Equipment should be reHable and capable of remote control and operation for long periods with minimal maintenance. Pulsed columns and remotely operated mixer—settlers are commonly used (270). The control of criticaHty and extensive monitoring of contamination levels must be included in the process design. 

The need to use multiple extraction to achieve efficient extraction required the development of new types of continuously working extractors, especially mixer-settlers and pulsed columns, which were suitable for remotely controlled operations. These new extractors could be built for continuous flow and in multiple stages, allowing very efficient isolation of substances in high yield. A good example is the production of rare earth elements in >99.999% purity in ton amounts by mixer-settler batteries containing hundreds of stages. These topics will be further developed in Chapters 6 and 7. 

In the example shown in Fig. 7.6, using an alkylphosphoric acid, about 60 stages are required to give a Co/Ni ratio of about 100. So many stages would be too many for mixer-settler operation, and other types of contactors would have to be considered. In this particular example, a sieve plate pulsed column has been shown to be very effective [3]. Flowever, with the development of the alkylphosphonic and alkylphosphinic acids, the separation of cobalt and nickel can be achieved in very few stages, owing to the high rejection of nickel (see Chapter 11). 

Irradiated UO2 is dissolved in nitric acid, resulting in a dissolver solution with the approximate composition listed in Table 12.7. This is treated by the Purex process. The main steps in the conventional Purex process are shown schematically in Fig. 12.5. All existing plants listed in Table 12.8 use some variation of the Purex process. Typically, the extractant composition (percentage TBP, diluent) and the extraction equipment (i.e., pulse columns, mixer-settlers, etc.), vary from plant to plant. However, the upper concentration limit is 30% TBP to prevent a phase reversal due to the increased density of the fully loaded solvent phase. 

The uranium and plutonium are recovered for further use by first dissolving the spent fuel in nitric acid and subjecting the resulting solution to a solvent extraction process. Several different processes exist, the best known being the Purex process (Fig. 18), in which tributyl phosphate (TBP) (30% solution in kerosene) is the extractant. Extraction is carried out in compact mixer-settlers or air-pulsed columns fabricated of stainless steel, with about 99.9% removal of uranium and plutonium in the extract. 

Nickel and cobalt often occur with copper, and must be separated in pure form from hydrometallurgical leach liquors. Organic acid extractants can quite readily separate copper from cobalt and nickel, but the separation of cobalt from nickel is rather difficult. In one Ni/Co separation process, di-2-ethyl hexyl phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) is used as extractant, with strict control of the pH of the aqueous phase to take full advantage of the slightly different equilibrium constants for the Co and Ni reactions. Pulsed column contactors are used rather than mixer-settlers, and nickel impurity is removed from the loaded organic phase by scrubbing it with a cobalt-rich phase. 

Fig. 26. Mechanically agitated industrial contactors, (a) mixer-settler (b) rotating-disk column (c) mixco column (d) asymmetric rotating-disk column (e) pulsed packed column (f) Podbielniak centrifugal extractor. (Reprinted from Doraiswamy, L. K and Sharma, M. M., Heterogeneous Reactions Analysis, Examples and Reactor Design, Vols. I and 2, 1984, John Wiley and Sons.)...

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