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Solvent Extraction Processes (solvent + extraction_process)
Selected AbstractsBioassays with caged Hyalella azteca to determine in situ toxicity downstream of two Saskatchewan, Canada, uranium operations,ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2007Erin L. Robertson Abstract The main objectives of this in situ study were to evaluate the usefulness of an in situ bioassay to determine if downstream water bodies at the Key Lake and Rabbit Lake uranium operations (Saskatchewan, Canada) were toxic to Hyalella azteca and, if toxicity was observed, to differentiate between the contribution of surface water and sediment contamination to in situ toxicity. These objectives were achieved by performing 4-d in situ bioassays with laboratory-reared H. azteca confined in specially designed, paired, surface water and sediment exposure chambers. Results from the in situ bioassays revealed significant mortality, relative to the respective reference site, at the exposure sites at both Key Lake (p , 0.001) and Rabbit Lake (p = 0.001). No statistical differences were found between survival in surface water and sediment exposure chambers at either Key Lake (p = 0.232) or Rabbit Lake (p = 0.072). This suggests that surface water (the common feature of both types of exposure chambers) was the primary cause of in situ mortality of H. azteca at both operations, although this relationship was stronger at Key Lake. At Key Lake, the primary cause of aquatic toxicity to H. azteca did not appear to be correlated with the variables measured in this study, but most likely with a pulse of organic mill-process chemicals released during the time of the in situ study , a transient event that was caused by a problem with the mill's solvent extraction process. The suspected cause of in situ toxicity to H. azteca at Rabbit Lake was high levels of uranium in surface water, sediment, and pore water. [source] Computer simulation of flow-sheets for the solvent extraction of uranium: a new route to delay the effect of chemical degradation of the organic phase during uranium recovery from acidic sulfate mediaJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Alexandre Chagnes Abstract BACKGROUND: The extractants used in solvent extraction processes undergo degradation under thermal, chemical and radiolytical stresses. In the case of uranium plants, tri- n -octylamine, used as an extractant, slowly degrades into di- n -octylamine. Such degradation causes a gradual depletion of the uranium extraction isotherms and as a result, of the efficiency of uranium recovery from feed solutions. The present work highlights a new route to delay this depletion of the extraction efficiency, merely by optimizing the flow-sheets involved in the process. Five flow-sheets have been compared for uranium recovery from acidic sulfate media by a solution of 0.146 mol L,1 tri- n -octylamine in kerosene modified with 5% w/w 1-tridecanol and stripping with a 199 g L,1 Na2CO3 solution. These five flow-sheets include the classical counter-current flow-sheet with four mixers,settlers in extraction and three mixers,settlers in stripping and four unusual combined solvent extraction flow-sheets with two independent extraction stripping loops and with one or two feed inlets. RESULTS: Computer simulation supplied evidence of the strong influence of the studied flow-sheets on the sturdiness of the process. More precisely, the unusual combined solvent extraction flow-sheets appeared to be significantly more efficient than the classical counter-current one and it is shown that an advantage of this can be to delay the negative impact of gradual degradation of tri- n -octylamine on uranium recovery efficiency from acidic sulfate media. CONCLUSION: The replacement of classical counter-current flow-sheets with a unique extraction-stripping loop in unusual combined flow-sheets with two or more independent extraction-stripping loops and with one or more feed inlets is a fruitful approach to delay the periodic addition of fresh tri- n -octylamine necessary for counter-balancing the progressive degradation of the extraction solvent and, as a result, to delay the gradual depletion of the efficiency of uranium recovery. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Experimental study of the hydraulic operation of an annular centrifugal contactor with various mixing vane geometriesAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 8 2010Kent E. Wardle Abstract The annular centrifugal contactor is a combination mixer/centrifuge that has been developed for solvent extraction processes for recycling used nuclear reactor fuel. The experimental observations presented were part of a simulation-focused research effort aimed at providing a more complete understanding of the fluid flow within these contactors to enable further advancements in design and operation of future units and greater confidence for use of such contactors in a variety of other solvent extraction applications. Laser doppler velocimetry (LDV), particle image velocimetry (PIV), pressure measurements, and high-speed video imaging for a range of flow rates and rotor speeds were performed to characterize the flow of water in the annular mixing region of the contactor using three different mixing vane geometries. It was found that the geometry of the mixing vanes has a significant impact on the annular liquid height and general flow in the contactor mixing zone. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010 [source] Analysis of the effect of mixing vane geometry on the flow in an annular centrifugal contactorAICHE JOURNAL, Issue 9 2009Kent E. Wardle Abstract The annular centrifugal contactor is a compact mixer/centrifuge developed for solvent extraction processes for recycling used nuclear fuel. This research effort couples computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling with a variety of experimental observations to provide a valid detailed analysis of the flow within the centrifugal contactor. CFD modeling of the free surface flow in the annular mixing zone using the volume-of-fluid method combined with large eddy simulation of turbulence was found to have very good agreement with the experimental measurements. A detailed comparative analysis of the flow and mixing with different housing vane geometries (four straight vanes, eight straight vanes, and curved vanes) was performed. Two additional variations on the eight straight vane geometry were also simulated. This analysis determined that at the simulated moderate flow rate the four straight mixing vane geometry has greater mixing and fluid residence time as compared to the other mixing vane configurations. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009 [source] | ||||||||||