Zirconium and hafnium co-exist in nature, but they have opposite nuclear characteristics. Thus, they have to be separated prior to their transformation into pure metals. Solvent extraction is a commercial method for production of pure materials such as zirconium and hafnium and their compounds from multi-component scrubber solution. Many organic extractants have the ability to selectively extract the ions dissolved in a dilute acid solution. Determination of distribution factors of the ions present in the solution is, therefore, an important parameter in selection of the appropriate extractant. In the extraction of zirconium and hafnium salts from HNO 3 , HCl, HClO 4 and H 2 SO 4 into Neutral rganophosphorus compounds (NOPC) – such as TBP- in case using mixtures of inorganic acids, NOPC extracts zirconium and hafnium with separation factor considerably exceeding the corresponding value for extraction from solution of individual acids. a still higher separation is obtained when using mixture of acids, especially those of nitric-hydrochloric acids. In this work, the modified conditions of zirconium extraction from solution containing nitric-hydrochloric acids using TBP in treated kerosene as diluent has been investigated. The following parameters have been studied: mixing time, the extractant, nitric-hydrochloric acids and zirconium concentrations, acidification of organic phase, the organic/aqueous phase ratio, and temperature and nitric acid extraction by TBP.
