Impact of backmixing of the aqueous phase on two-component rare earth separation process

Abstract

Solvent extraction based on mixer-settler is the major industrial method of rare earth (RE) separation. In the mixer-settler extraction process, due to the insufficient settling time in normal circumstances, backmixing of the aqueous phase could have significant impact on the process of RE extraction separation. Therefore on the basis of the extraction equilibrium and mass balance of the mixer-settler extraction process, here we developed a mathematic expression of the aqueous phase backmixing in a two-component separation process, and obtained a quantitative analysis of the backmixing effect on the purification process by the approximations according to certain hypotheses. Two extraction systems of La/Ce and Pr/Nd separation were chosen as the examples to analyze the backmixing effect, and the results showed that the aqueous backmixing had greater influence in the scrubbing segment than in the extraction segment, especially in the system with a high separation factor such as La/Ce separation. Therefore it was suggested that the aqueous backmixing effect should be well attended in the design and application of RE extraction separation.