Determination of Di-n-Butyl Phosphate in Organic Streams of FBTR Mixed Carbide Fuel Reprocessing Solution by Gas Chromatographic Technique

P. Velavendan, S. Ganesh, N.K. Pandey, U. Kamachi Mudali, R. Natarajan

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DOI: 10.4236/jasmi.2011.12005                

Abstract

The present work describes the amount of Di-n- butyl phosphate (DBP) produced when PUREX solvent (30%tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) mixed with 70% hydrocarbon diluent) is exposed to intensive radiolytic and chemical at- tack during the separation of uranium and plutonium from fission products of FBTR mixed carbide fuel reprocessing solution. DBP is the major degradation product of Tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP). Amount of DBP formed in the lean organic streams of different fuel burn-up FBTR carbide fuel reprocessing solutions were analyzed by Gas Chromatographic technique. The method is based on the preparation of diazo methane and conversion of non-volatile Di-n-butyl phosphate in to volatile and stable derivatives by the action of diazomethane and then determined by Gas Chromatography (GC). A calibration graph was made for DBP over a concentration in the range from 200 to 1800 ppm with correlation coefficient of 0.99587 and RSD 1.2%. The degraded 30% TBP-NPH solvent loaded with heavy metal ions like uranium was analyzed after repeated use and results are compared with standard ion chromatographic technique. A column comparison study to select of proper gas chromatographic column for the separation of DBP from other components in a single aliquot of injection is also examined.

Keywords

Gas Chromatography, Flame Ionization Detector, Diazomethane, Di-n-butyl Phosphate, PUREX Process, Degradation of TBP, Lean organic Streams, Carbide Fuel

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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