Leaching Experiment of Uranium
- Umut Eren Yıldız
- Jun 24, 2024
- 2 min read
Introduction
Uranium has the highest atomic weight among all the naturally occurring elements, which is 19 kilograms. Uranium naturally occurs at low concentrations and can be processed with in-situ leaching. The main usage area of uranium is in the nuclear power plants as fuel (Wikipedia, 2021). Some of the properties of uranium are below in the figure.
Note: Adapted from Morss, L. (n.d.). Uranium | Definition, Properties, Uses, & Facts
About the First Experiment
The experiment is done in the geochemistry laboratory. Firstly, an HCl solution is prepared for the leaching process. In addition, before preparing the acid solutions, molarity, molality, % weight, % volume, mol proportions are considered, and when the solution is diluted, the M1 × V1 = M2 × V2 formula is used.
Firstly, the volumetric flask is filled with pure water. Then, the determined amount of HCl is added to the solution. A propeller agitator is used for the leaching procedure. The leaching is continued for an hour. The main purpose of leaching is to create a two-phase in which the phases other than solid ones are wanted to move together with the solution.
After the agitation is done, the sample is taken to the conical separatory funnel, and two-phase are separated. The solid particles are sent to analysis to determine the REE in percentage.
About the Second Experiment
In the second experiment, the charged organic solution is worked on. For this one, pure water is mixed with sulfuric acid and charged organic solution in different proportions. The main purpose is to generate the three-phased solution. The samples are taken to a magnetic agitator and agitated for 10 minutes.
Then, samples are poured into a conical separatory funnel, and three phases are observed. After separating the phases, they are sent to analysis to laboratory and analyzed with the ICP-OES Sample Preparation Machines.
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