Nonstationary separation of Nd and Pr by P507 extractant

Abstract

The low efficiency of the separation of rare earth metals by extraction on one stage requires the combination of a large number of mixer-settlers in a cascade. The problem of increasing the rare earth elements separation factor is extremely urgent. One of the perspective methods is the nonequilibrium nonstationary process. In this work, it is offered to use the principle of a nonstationary extraction in the separation process of the Nd/Pr pair from chloride medium by the extractant based onP507. The results which have been received by an experimental setup allowing the monitoring of the influence of a cyclic change of physical-chemical parameters on extraction in the online modeare discussed. A comparison of two ways of implementation of extraction in the nonstationary mode is carried out. The apparent values of physical-chemical parameters (?G, ?H, ?S) in the temperatures range 15-65 °C are calculated from the data of joint extraction of Nd and Pr.