RECOVERY OF URANIUM FROM PHOSPHORIC ACID HEAT-REACTIVATABLE ADSORBENT GAS FRACTIONATOR AND PROCESS

Uranium values are recovered from a wet-process phosphoric acid solution by extracting said solution with a first organic extractant, reductively stripping the resulting first organic phase of its uranium values with a strip solution including and in which ferrous ion is utilized to reduce uranyl ions in said first organic phase to uranous ions therein, disengaging the strip solution from said first organic extractant and oxidizing same to convert the uranous ions therein to uranyl ions, next extracting said oxidized strip solution and the uranium values contained therein with a second organic extractant, and then stripping said uranium values from the resulting second organic phase, said recovery featuring (i) washing with an iron-free aqueous wash solution, and upstream of the reductive stripping thereof, the organic phase resulting from said first extraction, and (ii) utilizing effluent, iron-free wash solution from the step (i) to wash the organic phase resulting from said second extraction and concomitantly to strip any iron values therefrom, upstream of the stripping of the uranium values therefrom.