On microfluidic solvent extraction of uranium

This experimental study is focused on several aspects of microfluidic solvent extraction of uranium in setups comprising of microbore tube(s) connected to microfluidic junction(s). Extraction experiments are carried out using simulated lean aqueous phase having 550 ppm uranium in 1 M HNO3 as the feed. The organic phase consists of 30% (v/v) tributyl phosphate (TBP) in dodecane. The effects of flow rate on flow pattern, mass transfer and settling are studied. Performance of a straight microbore tube is compared with a coiled microbore tube of identical diameter and length. Two-stage extraction and stripping at total flow rate of 10 LPH are demonstrated using 20 parallel microbore tubes to highlight the ease of scale-up by numbering up.