Thermodynamic oxidation of extraction solutions components and critical parameters of thermal explosion. Communication 1. Kinetics of TBP interaction with nitric acid

The process of thermochemical interaction of undiluted TBP and nitric acid in monophase organic systems in the temperature range of 110-140 deg C at HNO3 concentrations from 1.4 to 5.6 mol/l has been studied. It is shown that thermochemical oxidation of TBP comprises a series of successive-parallel reactions ( acid hydrolysis of TBP, oxidation of hydrolysis products, destructive oxidation of TBP), some of them being capable of developing in the mode of a thermal explosion. For potentially hazardous reactions the rate constants and activation energies have been determined and by kinetic data the boundary (as regards acid concentration and temperature) conditions of the oxidizing processes overgrowing into a thermal explosion have been evaluated. 3 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs