A thermodynamic model for reactive extraction of macro amounts of zirconium and hafnium with TBP

Pure component thermodynamic models are developed for solvent extraction involving ionic reaction equilibrium for distribution of macro concentrations of zirconium and hafnium between an aqueous phase containing HNO3 and an organic solvent phase containing diluted TBP. The concentration range considered is 10−03 to 100 M. A framework based on chemical speciation calculation is used for the purpose. Experimental procedures adopted to obtain the required solvent extraction data for modeling and validating these models are detailed. Measured equilibrium concentrations of total zirconium, total HNO3, total nitrate in the aqueous phase and total zirconium in the organic phase are used to obtain the thermodynamic parameters such as equilibrium constants and activity coefficient model parameters for zirconium and hafnium extraction systems. The novel framework is useful for computing equilibrium concentrations of all the species present in the respective systems. It is also demonstrated that the pure component models developed for extraction of zirconium and hafnium are effective over a wide range of concentrations. These pure component models can be used to simulate and optimize industrial scale zirconium – hafnium separation process.