Process for recovering noble metals from solutions deriving from the treatment of nuclear fuels
AssigneeC.E.S.E.C. Centro Europeo Studi Economici e Chimici Srl
InventorRenato Ugo
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Abstract
A process for recovering palladium, rhodium and ruthenium from aqueous solutions deriving from the treatment of nuclear fuels and containing also iron and nickel, by reducing carbonylation with carbon monoxide at a pressure up to 1 atmosphere in a nitric acid solution at a pH of between 2 and 4 and at a temperature of between room and 100.degree. C. and reaction times of from 6 to 100 hours.
Claims9
A process for sequentially recovering palladium, and a mixture of rhodium and ruthenium from an aqueous nitric acid solution derived from the treatment of exhausted nuclear fuels said process consisting essentially of the essentially of the steps of:
- (a) treating said aqueous nitric acid solution at a pH between 2 and 3 with carbon monoxide at a pressure of up to one atmosphere at room temperature, for 6 to 10 hours, and filtering off the precipitated palladium;
- (b) adjusting the pH of the filtrate of step (a) to 4 and treating the thus obtained solution with carbon monoxide at a temperature ranging from 45.degree. to 100.degree. C. for a time ranging from 10 to 60 hours and then centrifuging or decanting and then filtering off the precipitated rhodium and ruthenium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.