Study of Soluble Tungstate Species by Solvent Extraction

Abstract

Abstract Tungsten is extracted from acidic tungstate solutions by the long-chain tertiary alkyl amine, tri-n-caprylamine, in benzene. Distribution data derived from solvent extraction are interpreted in terms of the predominating tungsten species present in the aqueous phase. The results show that the nature of the tungstate species extracted by tri-n-caprylamine changes markedly with the pH of the system. Further, the order of extraction is consistent with the order in which tungstate species should form as a function of the ratio of acid equivalents to moles of tungstate ions in solution.