Kinetics of uranium leaching process using sulfuric acid for Wadi Nasib ore, South western Sinai, Egypt

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Nuclear Materials Authority, P.O. Box 530 El Maadi, Cairo, Egypt

2 Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Menofiya University

Abstract

The leaching of uranium from Wadi Nasib ore using sulfuric acid solution has been studied. The effect of different parameters such as leaching time, sulfuric acid concentration, solid/liquid ratio, leaching temperature and mechanical stirring speed were investigated in order to optimize various process parameters for maximizing the recovery of uranium. Uranium dissolution efficiency of 98.5% was obtained for Wadi Nasib ore after 4 hours contact time leaching using 200 g L-1 H2SO4 and solid/liquid ratio 1/4 at leaching temperature 80°C and 400 rpm mechanical stirring speed without any oxidant addition. The kinetic data showed that the leaching process can be described by a shrinking-core model with apparent activation energy equals to 16.2 kJ/mol. The low activation energy supported the findings that the Wadi Nasib leaching rate is controlled by diffusion-controlled process.

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Aswan University Journal of Environmental Studies
Volume 1, Issue 2
December 2020
Pages 171-182

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