Liquid–liquid extraction studies have been performed
to investigate the selective extraction of zirconium (Zr) and hafnium
(Hf) in hydrochloric acid medium. For this purpose, several amine-based
extractants were used at varying concentrations of extractants and
HCl. Among the tested extractants, Alamine 336 showed good selectivity
for Zr over Hf and led to the highest separation factor. A McCabe–Thiele
diagram was constructed for the extraction of Zr with Alamine 336
in kerosene, and the tested batch simulation of counter-current extraction
studies showed that the extractions of Zr and Hf impurities were 98.5%
and 12.5%, respectively. The coextracted Hf was scrubbed with dilute
H2SO4 solution, and complete stripping of Zr
was successfully achieved from the loaded organic phase by simple
contact with 1 M HCl solution.
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