Using microemulsion for recovery of uranium from phosphoric acid of Annaba (Algeria)

In this work the microemulsion liquid membrane operation of reversed type water-in-oil was applied to extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid produced at Annaba plant in Algeria. Obtained results show that an extraction yield of more than 90% of uranium present in the phosphoric acid may be reached in three theoretical stages with aqueous/organic phase ratio= 12:1 without acid pretreatment for the removal of organic matter. The extracted uranium was precipitated and the microemulsion was recycled for further use as solvent phase. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.