Flowsheets zirconium extraction

Commercial-scale application of solvents coming under the category of neutral reagents is largely found as applied to the nuclear industry materials, as in example, for the separation and refining of uranium, plutonium, thorium, zirconium, and niobium. A process flowsheet for extracting niobium and tantalum from various resources is shown in Figure 5.23. It will... 

In its natural state, zirconium, which is an important material of construction for nuclear reactors, is associated with hafnium, which has an abnormally high neutron-absorption cross section and must be removed before the zirconium can be used. Refer to the accompanying flowsheet for a proposed liquid/liquid extraction process wherein tributyl phosphate (TBP) is used as a solvent for the separation of hafnium from zirconium. [R. P. Cox, H. C. Peterson, and C. H. Beyer, Ind. Eng. Chem., 50(2, 14 (1958).]... 

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