Extraction of Copper and Ammonia from Cu~(2+)-NH_3-Cl~--H_2O System with Mixture of LIX84 and TBP

With Cu2+-NH3-Cl--H2O solution as ammoniacal solution, the copper extraction rate and ammonia extraction were investigated.The effects of concentration of Tributyl phosphate(TBP) in the organic phase, concentration of copper ion, total ammonia concentration and pH in the aqueous phase, phase ratio and concentration of LIX84 on copper extraction rate and ammonia extraction in the loaded organic phase were studied.The experimental results show that with the increase of TBP concentration in LIX84, copper extraction rate had little effect, while the ammonia extraction in the organic phase significantly decreased.When the copper concentration in the aqueous phase and total ammonia concentration were 25 g/L and 3 mol/L, respectively, the pH of aqueous phase was 9.1.The solvent extraction with 40%(-) LIX84 adding 0.1 mol/L TBP in the organic phase and a phase ratio of 1:1 in 30 min of contact resulted in 81% of copper extraction rate and 85 mg/L of ammonia extraction in the loaded oil phase, while the copper extraction rate and ammonia extraction in the loaded organic phase in the absence of TBP were 81% and 260 mg/L, respectively.