ION CHROMATOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF DIBUTYLPHOSPHORIC ACID IN NUCLEAR-FUEL REPROCESSING STREAMS

A rapid method has been developed for the determination of dibutylphosphoric acid (DBP), a degradation product of tributylphosphate (TBP), which is used in a solvent extraction process for recovery of uranium. DBP along with any monobutylphosphoric acid (MBP) and phosphoric acid are extracted from the organic phase into dilute sodium hydroxide. DBP is separated from MBP and phosphoric acid by ion chromatography and is determined on a peak height ratio basis. The method requires only 30 minutes per analysis as compared to the conventional alumina column separation-colorimetric determination procedure which requires 8 h to complete. DBP has been quantified to a lower limit of 1.5 mg/L. Relative standard deviations ranging from 5.7% to 0.4% were obtained for DBP concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 500 mg/L, respectively. © 1979, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.