Solvent extraction of zirconium from nitric-hydrochloric acid solutions using TBP

Solvent extraction is a commercial method for production of pure materials such as zirconium and hafnium andtheir compounds from multi-component scrubber solution. in the extraction of zirconium and hafnium salts fromhno3, hcl, hclo4 and h2so4 into neutral organophosphorus compounds (nopc) - such as tributyl phosphate(tbp)- in case using mixtures of inorganic acids, nopc extracts zirconium and hafnium with separation factor considerablyexceeding the corresponding value for extraction from solution of individual acids. a still higher separationlevel is obtained when using mixture of acids, especially those of nitric-hydrochloric acids. in this paper, theextraction of zirconium from solution containing nitric-hydrochloric acids using tbp in treated kerosene as diluenthas been studied. the following parameters have been investigated: effect of extractant, nitric-hydrochloric acidsand zirconium concentrations, mixing time, acidification of organic phase, the organic/aqueous phase ratio and temperatureon the extraction of zirconium.