Solubility of uranous sulfate in aqueous sulfuric acid solution

Abstract

To provide important thermodynamic data for use in uranium hydrometallurgy, solubilities of uranous sulfate were determined as a function of free acid concentration and temperature. Two sets of experiments were performed in this study. One set was the precipitation experiments of uranous sulfate crystals, in which concentrated uranous sulfate solution was mixed with sulfuric acid solution of suitable concentration. The other set was the dissolution experiments of uranous sulfate crystals in aqueous sulfuric acid solutions. It is noteworthy that good agreement exists between the solubilities determined by the two methods. At elevated temperatures, say, 363 K, the presence of free sulfuric acid is required to avoid precipitation of uranous hydroxide resulting from the hydrolysis of uranous sulfate. Generally speaking, however, an increase in free sulfuric acid concentration results in a slight decrease in uranous sulfate solubility. The elevation of solution temperature causes a decrease in solubility of uranous sulfate. It should be noted that the solid uranous sulfates equilibrated with saturated solutions at 298 K were U(SO₄)₂ 2H₂O in dilute sulfuric acid solution and U(SO₄)₂ 4H₂O in concentrated sulfuric acid solution, while those at 333 K and 363 K were mainly U(SO₄)₂ 4H₂O.