Extraction of Thorium from Malaysian Xenotime for Preparation of Nuclear Grade Thorium

摘要

A simple and economical process for achieving nuclear grade thorium is discussed. The raw material in the form of thorium and rare earth oxalate is produced after precipitation of leached solution from alkaline fusion of local xenotime. Investigations were made of the extraction of aqueous solution containing thorium, rare earth and other element such as chlorine, magnesium and calcium by using Di-Ethylhexyl Phosphoric Acid (DEHPA) as the organic phase. The objective of this study is to find optimum extraction parameters of various aqueous acidic solutions using variables such as contact time, organic to aqueous ratio and concentration of acid. From this work, result shows that the ideal contact time for thorium extraction is at 15 minutes with organic to aqueous ratio is 1:1 from HC1 aqueous phase.