Research on Separating Rubidium from Deep Potassium-Rich Old Brine by Solvent Extraction

Abstract

A deep potassium-rich old brine in Hubei Province contains a large number of rubidium resource. Separation of rubidium is very difficult due to the similar physical and chemical properties of rubidium with the other coexisting alkali metals (potassium, sodium, and lithium). The process of extracting and separating Rb from the old brine with 4-tert-butyl-2-(α-methylbenzyl) phenol(t-BAMBP) as the extraction agent and sulfonated kerosene as diluents was systematically studied in this paper. The concentration of extraction agent, alkalinity of the old brine, phase ratio, the extracting time and other related factors were investigated. The optimal extraction conditions were obtained as follows: the concentration of t-BAMBP was 1.0mol/L, the concentration OH- was 0.6mol/L, the phase ratio was 3, the extraction time was 3 minutes. The percentage extraction of Rb could reach 91% for single-stage extraction, the separation coefficient of Rb and K reached up to 16.15. Sulfonated kerosene as diluent is non-toxic, high flash point, non-environmental pollution. A high extraction rate and separation factor for the development of rubidium resource of deep potassium-rich brine provided a reliable basis.