Separation Of Rare Earth Elements In Bastnasite By Ion Exchange PDF Download

BS>The separation of rare earth mixtures by ion exchange using ammonium ethylenedisminetetracetate and annmonium N-hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetate as eluting agents is discussed in detail. Simple countercurrent separation theory is used to predict the minimum nuinber of displacements of an adsorbed band that are necessary in order to separate the components of binary mixtures. It is shown how the theory can be applied to even more complex systems, and experimental data are presented for some of the more difficultly separablc groups of rare-earth species. Experimental results agree very well with the theoretical predictions. (auth) A detailed description is presented of a process developed by Ames Laboratory for the separation of thorium, rare earths, and uranium from monazite sands. Oxalic acid is used to precipitate rare earths; and thorium from a sulfate and phosphate solution of these elements. The possibility of recovering uranium from the oxalate filtrate by anion exchange was investigated. (W.L.H.).