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The effect of surfactants on the efficiency and consumption reduction of acid stirred leaching of uranium ore

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Abstract

For the leaching process of uranium ore, the leaching rate, leaching efficiency, and energy consumption are hot research topics. In order to meet the industry’s demand for natural uranium and ensure the stable supply of uranium products, this article proposes the use of surfactants to improve the leaching efficiency and leaching rate of uranium ore, thereby achieving better leaching results at larger particle sizes and reducing grinding energy consumption. This article focuses on the core samples of a certain mine and adopts a stirring leaching method. Firstly, the acid stirring leaching process conditions were optimized. Based on this, the types and concentrations of surfactants were selected, and the influence of the selected surfactants on the stirring leaching law of the ore was investigated. The results indicate that the addition of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) cationic surfactant has the highest leaching efficiency in the optimal conventional stirring leaching environment for ores. Compared with the stirring leaching effect without CTAB, after adding 50 mg/L CTAB for leaching, the leaching rate of uranium ore increased from 90.79 to 96.34% within the same leaching cycle; By adding 50 mg/L CTAB to leach ore with a particle size of − 60 mesh, the uranium leaching rate increased from 35.09 to 87.79%, achieving effective leaching of uranium ore with coarser particles; Through analysis such as BET and SEM, it was determined that the addition of CTAB promoted the solution to enter the microporous gaps between ores, achieving an increase in leaching rate. Surfactants reduced the thickness of the liquid film formed on the ore surface and the diffusion time of the liquid film, which was the reason for the improvement of uranium leaching effect.

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Acknowledgements

This project was mainly supported by the Nuclear Energy Development Project (technology for the mining and metallurgy of associated uranium resources—on the demonstration of uranium co-mining in Bayan Ura, Inner Mongolia ) , National Natural Science Foundation of China (21761002), China Uranium Industry Co., Ltd.—the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment Joint Innovation Fund Project (2022NRE-LH-15) and Key Project of Jiangxi Natural Science Foundation (20232ACB203014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, Jiangxi, China

    Jiahui Feng, Jiacheng Guo, Rongjing Tang, Junhan Li & Rong Hua

  2. China National Uranium Corporation Limited, Beijing, China

    Xuebin Su

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  1. Jiahui Feng
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  2. Jiacheng Guo
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Correspondence to Xuebin Su or Rong Hua.

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Feng, J., Guo, J., Tang, R. et al. The effect of surfactants on the efficiency and consumption reduction of acid stirred leaching of uranium ore. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 333, 1873–1881 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-024-09405-w

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