Removal of entrained organic phase from raffinate in spent fuel reprocessing with graphene-based composites

In spent fuel reprocessing, the phase entrainment in the solvent extraction process would result in solvent loss, low efficiency and other adverse effects. As a superhydrophobic material with low density and large specific surface area, graphene aerogel may have potential applications in spent fuel reprocessing for the removal of entrained organic phase from raffinate. In this paper, the phase entrainment in the solvent extraction process was investigated by using centrifugal extractor as the extraction equipment. It was found the operation conditions, such as rotor speed, flow rates and phase ratio, have a significant effect on the phase entrainment. Afterwards, a kind of graphene-based superhydrophobic composite was synthesized and used to treat the entrained organic phase in raffinate by a simple adsorption process. The results showed that the proposed method can quickly reduce the content of the organic phase in raffinate to less than 0.1%, showing potential applications in spent fuel reprocessing. (author)