Using microemulsion for recovery of uranium from phosphoric acid of Annaba (Algeria)

In this work the microemulsion liquid membrane operation of reversed type water-in-oil was applied to extraction of uranium from phosphoric acid produced at Annaba plant in Algeria. Obtained results show that an extraction yield of more than 90% of uranium present in the phosphoric acid may be reached in three theoretical stages with aqueous/organic phase ratio=12:1 without acid pretreatment for the removal of organic matter. The extracted uranium was precipitated and the microemulsion was recycled for further use as solvent phase.